


Take a Chance on a New Romance

by khaleesiq



Category: Little Mix (Band), One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff, Smut, Stripper AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-28
Updated: 2015-08-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 17:21:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4675049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khaleesiq/pseuds/khaleesiq
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Leigh-Anne whips her head around as she plants her hands behind her back. Then she thrusts up into the air a couple of times, throwing her head back like in ecstasy. She brings her hands up then and slides them under her bra, cupping her breasts until they’re practically coming out of her bra.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>  <em>She jumps to her feet and grabs the pole again. She leans back from it sideways, her head tilting back at what looks like an uncomfortable angle. She twists her body so that it faces that crowd and slides a hand down her stomach and into her panties. The crowd goes wild as she brings it out and licks it. Jade’s mouth drops open and she starts to feel a wetness between her thighs. Shit.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Take a Chance on a New Romance

**Author's Note:**

> So I just got super into leighade but there are like no fics for them. So I decided to write my own, and 32,000 words later, here it is. I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> Companion playlist can be found [here](http://8tracks.com/khaleesiq/take-a-chance-on-a-new-romance)
> 
> Title taken from the song "Dance with Me" by Screaming Orphans.

_Welcome to the jungle…_

The second Jade enters the club she’s hit with the smell of sweat and sex. It’s way too dark to see even a few inches in front of her, and she instinctually grabs for Liam’s hand. She thinks that she hears him laugh, but there’s no way for her tell if he actually laughed or not because the music is way too loud for her to hear anything expect the pounding of the base.

She squeezes Liam’s hand as she weaves in and out of the sea of bodies, trying to find the bar. If she wants to make it through this night she needs to get really drunk. She hates crowds and the feeling of being consumed by them, and so the only way she can deal with this is to drink as much as possible, she thinks.

_Tonight I’ll hunt you down…_

“You okay?” Liam shouts into her ear in an attempt to be heard over the music. “We can go somewhere else if you’re uncomfortable.”

Jade shakes her head, and then realizes that Liam probably can’t see it. “I’m fine,” she yells. “Everyone is already here, and I don’t want to make a fuss.”

“If you say so,” Liam says. “Let me get your drink.”

Jade thanks him and holds onto his arm with an iron grip as he shouts their drink orders to the bartender. The bartender, a girl with bright blonde hair and a nose piercing, nods but explains that she has a ton of other orders to fill before she can get to theirs.

_Boy can you make me growl…_

As they wait for their drinks Liam checks his phone while Jade studies her surroundings. It’s too dark and crowded to tell what the place actually looks like, but Jade tries to make something out anyway. All she can see though is the stage across the room that’s lit with pink and purple lights. A girl with light brown skin grinds against the pole as dollar bills are thrown at her.

Jade gulps and tugs on Liam’s arm. Liam looks up at her and she asks, “Are you sure this is the place Zayn told you to meet him?”

Liam nods. “Yeah this is the place,” he answers. Jade bites down on her bottom lip and she must look worried because Liam throws an arm around her shoulders and pulls her in. “Don’t worry. Zayn says everyone is really cool here.”

Jade raises an eyebrow. “Zayn knows the strippers personally?”

Liam laughs. “His friend Leigh-Anne works here. She’s really awesome, I think you’ll like her.”

Jade nods, if only to make Liam stop worrying about her. She really doesn’t think that she’ll enjoy it here, but Liam really likes Zayn and Jade is Liam’s best friend so she’ll stay. For him.

_With the wild things on the prowl…_

They finally get their drinks and this time Liam leads Jade to where Zayn and his friends said they’d be. Liam must see them before Jade because he lets out a squeal (later Liam will say that it was a very _manly_ squeal, but Jade knows better) and rushes over to hug Zayn.

Jade hangs back and watches as Liam greets all of Zayn’s friends as if he’s known them all his life. Then Liam gestures her over to the group, and Jade awkwardly greets all of them. Although Liam says all of their names, Jade knows that there’s no way she’s going to remember everyone’s names. But she smiles politely anyway, keeping her hand on Liam’s arm so that he won’t leave her.

He does though, because he can’t resist Zayn’s smile or his eyes or the way he draws out Liam’s name when he says it. Jade frowns as she watches them act as if they’re the only two people in the world because Liam _knows_ that Jade is out of her element and Liam is the only person she feels comfortable around here.

_Welcome to the jungle…_

Jade focuses her attention on the stage that looms in front of her, because that’s why they’re here, right? To watch the strippers. A different girl than before is on stage now, a girl with dark brown skin and black hair that’s tied into two thick braids. She’s still wearing a thick peacoat, so Jade guesses that she’s just started.

_La la la… La di da di… Hands on my body…_

The music starts speeding up and the girl quickly undoes the belt on her coat and rips it open. Cheers erupt as she exposes her lilac bra and panties. She slides her hands down her stomach as she dips low to the ground, and then shimmies back up, barely paying attention to the dollar bills being thrown in her face.

_La la la… Oh just love me down…_

She leans back against the pole and slides down it. With her hands wrapped around the pole behind her she thrusts her hips up, emitting more cries from the audience. She grins as she slides back up the pole and pushes off of it.

_La la la… La di da di… Hands on my body…_

She grips the pole with one hand as she grinds against it. She slides her other hand down her side and then back up over her stomach. She reaches up to cup her breasts before pushing them against the pole.

_La la la… Oh just love me down…_

She turns around so that her back is facing the crowd and grips the pole as she pushes her ass out. The crowd goes absolutely crazy when she swivels it around. She reaches her hands down and slowly pulls down her panties to reveal a thong underneath. She kicks her underwear across the stage and then grins at the crowd like the show is just about to begin.

_Welcome to the jungle…_

She wraps a leg around the pole and leans her upper body backwards. Then, straightening her body, she grabs ahold of the pole and grips it tightly as she lifts her other leg up and wraps it around the pole. She ruts against the pole, her body moving like liquid as her curves around it.

_Beat it up like Rocky, no ASAP… Cop game like 8 track…_

She drops one of her legs and spins herself around the pole until she drops to the floor. She leans all the way back so that she is flat on the floor. She puts her knees up and thrusts up to the beat of the music.

She flips over onto her stomach and grinds down against the floor for a couple of beats. Then she arches up and crawls to the edge of the stage. Someone in the front row tucks some bills into her bra. She grins at him and blows him a kiss before sitting up.

_Super faded, ‘ready gone… She super bad, hardly wrong…_

She spreads her legs and slides her hands over her stomach. She jumps up off the floor, keeping her legs apart. She bends over and whips her head around before straightening back up. She spins around and then does the same thing with her ass facing the crowd.

_Do your dance, but they play my song… Excuse me shorty, but you owned…_

She grabs the pole again and thrusts up against it once, twice, before whipping her head from side to side. She sways her hips, hands brushing up her sides before squeezing her breasts together.

She drops to the floor in a splits. She kneels on the ground, curling around the pole as she slides up it. She grips the pole again as she uses it to spin around again.

_For this pussy popping safari… So fuck it let’s party…_

Landing back down on two feet she thrusts up and then uses her fingers to pretend to shoot off a gun. She blows on her finger before sticking it down her panties as if sticking it back into a holster. She swivels her hips around as she lowers herself to the ground and then back up again.

As the song starts to come to a close, she returns to the pole. She wraps her hands around it and then jumps up to wrap her legs around it. Letting go of the pole with her hands she leans backwards until her palms are flat on the ground.

_Welcome to the jungle… Tonight I’ll hunt you down…_

Then, unwrapping her legs from around the pole she flips over. Cheers erupt as she stands back up with a grin and a pose like she’s competing in gymnastics for the Olympics.

_Boy can you make me growl, with the wild things on the prowl…_

Dollar bills are flung onto the stage as she thrusts a couple more times and the song draws to a close.

_Welcome to the jungle._

Jade’s mouth falls open.

***

“Who _was_ that?” Jade gasps, turning to see if anyone else had seen that. Her stomach twists in an unfamiliar way and she’s dying to see what else that girl can do on the pole. And what she can do to Jade.

No one else seems to be paying her any attention, so she searches for Liam. She finds him curled up on Zayn’s lap, laughing into his neck. She rolls her eyes at them.

“Liam,” she says loudly. Liam’s head snaps up and he looks like a deer in the headlights. Jade smirks a little at his reaction, and says, “Did you watch that performer?”

Liam raises his eyebrows and looks between Jade and Zayn, as if to say, “Do you _really_ think I was paying attention to whoever was on stage?” Jade groans and crosses her arms.

Liam laughs. “Why? Were you into her or something?”

Jade thanks the poor lighting in the club for once that Liam can’t see her blush. See, Jade has never been completely comfortable with her sexuality. She definitely likes boys, has even been in a long-term committed relationship with one, but she’s not completely sure how she feels about girls. Sure, she finds some pretty or attractive, but she has no idea if she wants to kiss them or fuck them or what.

Which is why she doesn’t understand the feeling she had gotten when watching that stripper on stage just moments ago. She was a good dancer (although, it was more thrusting and grinding than _actual_ dancing, Jade has to admit), but the feeling is more than that. It’s the same feeling she got when she had a boyfriend and he would promise to do filthy things to her when he got home. Or the feeling she gets as she’s staring at a shirtless picture of Chris Evans and she has the sudden urge to go home and get off.

And this feeling that she has for this nameless stripper, it’s definitely strong but Jade’s not sure that she actually wants to pursue it. It would be fun to, she doesn’t doubt, see where it goes, if she’s really serious about this girl or if she just wants to fuck her. But at the same time, what if it does turn serious? And then she’ll have to explain to her family—

Maybe she should just let sleeping dogs lie.

“Maybe Leigh-Anne can help you out,” Zayn suggests, pulling Jade out of her reverie. In fact, she was so deep in thought that she had completely forgotten that she was talking to them. “She says she’s coming over to meet us right now.”

“No, that’s okay,” Jade says, shrugging as if it’s no big deal. And it is no big deal. So Liam better not make it a big deal.

“Are you sure?” Liam says. “Leigh-Anne works here. Even if you just wanted to compliment her performance I’m sure she could—”

“ _I’m fine_ ,” Jade grits out, hoping that Liam will take the hint to shut the fuck up. “I don’t care about that stupid stripper. She just had a cool performance, that’s all.”

“What stupid stripper?”

An unfamiliar voice has Jade whirling around and staring at possibly the most beautiful woman she has ever seen. She’s got smooth dark skin and big brown eyes. Her hair is done up into braids, but it looks black and silky. She’s wearing a thick white peacoat and—

Oh god.

It’s her. It’s the stripper that had just performed.

“Uh,” Jade says eloquently.

“Oh, hey Leigh!” Zayn says from behind her, but Jade cannot be bothered to turn and look at him. She’s too busy staring at this gorgeous stripper—Leigh-Anne—with her mouth agape. “This is my—Liam, and his best friend, Jade.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Leigh-Anne says with a wide smile, and Jade’s heart starts beating a little more rapidly. “I’m Leigh-Anne. Did you guys enjoy the show?”

“Oh, when did you perform?” Liam asks.

_Shit_. Don’t say it, don’t say it—

“Just finished, actually,” Leigh-Anne says with a little huff of laughter.

Jade finally looks away from Leigh-Anne to watch Liam’s reaction to that information. He looks confused until his glance slides from Leigh-Anne to Jade. Then his eyes widen and his lips part into a surprised expression for a second before he starts smirking.

Fucking asshole.

“Oh, did you now?” Liam says, sounding way too interested. “How did it go? I heard that it was _amazing_ and someone said they wished they could see you after to compliment you.”

Jade looks to Zayn for help, but he’s giggling into his hand. She honestly wishes that he wasn’t so smitten with Liam because maybe then he could actually fucking help her. But nope, instead she’s left standing there looking like a desperate loser.

“Really?” Leigh-Anne says, disbelieving. “Who said that? I love getting compliments, really helps with my ego.”

Jade can’t help but laugh. _Fuck_. Not only is she stunningly attractive, but she’s funny too. Well, she’s just starting to get to know this girl, there has to be _something_ about her that will turn Jade off.

“Yep,” Liam says. “In fact, she’s right—”

“Do you want me to buy you a drink?” Jade interrupts, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of someone as pretty as Leigh-Anne. “I’m getting tired of hanging around these boys.”

Liam and Zayn start giggling into each other’s necks and Jade shoots them both a glare.

“Alright,” Leigh-Anne says, leading Jade to the bar. “I want to get to know you better. I feel like I already know Liam considering Zayn never shuts up about him, but I never hear about you.”

Jade flushes, and silently thanks the low lighting once again.

Leigh-Anne orders their drinks and the bartender mixes them right away. Leigh-Anne must know her well for them to get their drinks straight away. Jade wonders who else here she knows well. If it’s just the employees or if there are regulars here that she’s used to—

Nope. Not thinking about that.

“Your, er, performance was really good,” Jade finds herself saying.

Leigh-Anne smiles as she leans against the bar. “Thank you. It wasn’t even one of my better performances. I usually don’t perform those on weeknights.”

“Why?” Jade asks.

“There’s better tippers on weekends,” Leigh-Anne answers. “Everyone is off of work and they can do whatever the fuck they want. You should come back on Friday or Saturday. If you liked tonight’s show, then you’ll love it then.”

Jade bit her lip and rubbed her glass. “Um, yeah. I don’t know if I’ll come back.”

Leigh-Anne tipped her head to the side. “Why not?”

Jade shrugs. “It’s not really my scene. I don’t like big crowds.” _And you make me really fucking confused_ , she wants to add.

Leigh-Anne puts her drink down and then takes Jade’s drink out of her hands and sets it onto the bar. She takes Jade’s hands in hers and waits until Jade looks up at her to say anything. Jade’s breath catches in her throat when she notices how intensely Leigh-Anne is staring at her.

“Tell you what,” Leigh-Anne says. “I’ll tell security to let you backstage so that you can enjoy the show without the crowds. You can even bring Liam or one of your other friends if you want.”

“Really?” Jade says, her chest tightening. “You would do that for me?”

“You don’t have to,” Leigh-Anne says quickly, looking embarrassed now. “It was just an idea.”

“I’d love to,” Jade says without thinking. Because despite the confusion Leigh-Anne makes her feel, and the fear she has for what she feels, she really wants to see Leigh-Anne perform again.

And maybe the grin she gets from Leigh-Anne in return makes it all worth it as well.

***

It’s almost three in the morning when Jade gets home that night. She falls into bed, face forward, thankful that her first class doesn’t start until late in the afternoon tomorrow.

She’s about to fall asleep, right then and there, without changing her clothes or removing her makeup when she feels her phone buzzing in her pocket. She groans as she takes it out, hoping to just see Liam’s name blinking on the screen so that she can ignore it until the morning.

But instead she sees that it’s a notification for a missed call and voicemail from work. She sits straight up in her bed. She takes a deep breath as she presses “listen” on her voicemail.

“ _Hello Jade, this is Brian_ ,” the scratchy voice of her boss plays on the message. “ _I’m so sorry that I have to do this over the phone, but the news came so suddenly that I had no other choice. I have to make some budget cuts, and unfortunately I have to lay off some people. You’re such a great employee, Jade, I really regret doing this to you, but_ —”

Jade presses “end” and deletes it before she has to hear any more of it. She bites her fist, forcing herself not to cry.

_Look on the bright side_ , she tells herself _, you really hated that job. You’ll find another one. It’s going to be okay_.

Despite what she tells herself, she ends up falling asleep with tears streaming down her face anyway.

***

She really doesn’t want to go back to the club on Saturday. For one, she’s still feeling really shitty about losing her job. Two, she doesn’t want to go around spending money for no good reason now that she has lost her job. And three, Leigh-Anne makes her nervous. Especially if her show is even better than the one on Wednesday like she said it would be.

But Liam had been so ecstatic when Jade had told him what Leigh-Anne had suggested. He thought it would be a great idea for her to hang out more with someone that’s not him. And, he thinks that it’s great to become more acquainted with Zayn’s friends.

Jade just thinks that he wants Jade to become friends with someone else so that he can hang out with Zayn alone more.

But there’s no way she could possibly say no to Liam’s puppy dog eyes, so that’s how she finds herself back at the club on Saturday. They wait outside for almost an hour—probably because it’s a Saturday—and then they almost don’t get in until Liam mentions Leigh-Anne’s name.

“Leigh-Anne Pinnock?” the bouncer says.

“Yeah,” Liam says. “We don’t know her that well, but I’m sure if you mention our names to her she’ll know who we are.”

“We’ll see about that,” the bouncer grunts before lifting his phone to his ear.

Two minutes and one phone call later, Jade and Liam are being escorted backstage by a security guard. They’re led down a long hallway with walls that are covered in chipped paint and a ceiling that looks like it’s going to collapse any second. Jade holds onto Liam’s arm the whole way down, worried that they’re going someplace they don’t want to be.

But then they get to a room with bright lights and about ten half-naked girls. Jade blushes and stares resolutely at the ground.

“Leigh-Anne?” the security guard calls.

Leigh-Anne looks up from where she’s helping a girl with her costume. Her face lights up at the sight of Jade and Liam and she beckons them over with a quick thanks for the security guard.

“I was starting to suspect you weren’t going to show,” Leigh-Anne says as Jade and Liam walk over to her. She goes back to concentrating on the girl’s costume.

Liam shrugs. “Of course we came. Although, it took a lot of persuading on this one’s part.” He nudges Jade’s shoulder.

Jade bites her lip and looks away.

Leigh-Anne laughs. “I’m glad you decided to come. We—fuck!” She lets go of the girl’s costume and crosses her arms over her chest, clearly agitated. “I’m sorry, Jesy, but I can’t fix it. See if Lauren can do it for you.”

“Oh, Jade might be able to help you with that,” Liam blurts. Jade glares at him but he pays her no mind. “She’s really good at sewing. Helps out in the costume department for all the plays at the university.”

“It’s nothing major,” the girl—Jesy—tells her. “Just a problem with the zipper.”

Jade looks from Liam to Jesy and finally to Leigh-Anne. It’s Leigh-Anne that makes her go, “Okay, sure I can help you.” The look on her face is so hopeful that Jade would hate herself if she didn’t at least _try_.

It’s an easily fixable problem too. The zipper gets stuck where the fabric is thicker, and because of that it gets in the way of the zipper’s track. Jade fixes it easily with scissors (although it’s quick and easy, that’s not the best solution because it might cause the costume to rip open eventually, so she makes sure to tell Jesy to bring it to a tailor as soon as possible).

Jade gets a huge hug from Jesy, and she’s completely surprised by the force of it. She’s never understood people that are so physical with people they’ve just met, even if they did do them a favor. But she hugs back anyway because Leigh-Anne is staring at her with a small smile and her eyes shining bright.

***

It’s actually a really amazing show. Jade stands just offstage with Leigh-Anne the whole time. It’s strange, the way Jade views the strippers as something like ballet dancers. But even though their dances are sensual and erotic, there’s something beautiful and graceful about the way they present it. Like it’s about so much more than just trying to get everyone all hot and bothered. It’s the way they move their bodies in impossible ways that must have taken hours upon hours of practicing to perfect. And Jade almost wishes they _were_ ballet dancers because then people would appreciate the way they move more.

At some point Jade looks over at Leigh-Anne to see what she thinks, only to find her staring back at Jade. Leigh-Anne looks away quickly, a small smile on her face. Jade keeps watching her.

She really likes Leigh-Anne. She likes the way Leigh-Anne has been so sweet and considerate towards her from the moment they met. She likes the way she rolls her eyes at Zayn and Liam but then smiles at them when they’re not looking. She likes the way Leigh-Anne has stood right next to Jade this entire night—even though she should be getting ready for her performance—because she understands that Jade gets nervous around people she doesn’t know.

But most of all, she likes the way Leigh-Anne makes her feel.

She’s still slightly confused and nervous, but with the way Leigh-Anne has been treating her tonight, with her small smiles and gentle words, she knows that it’ll be okay. She feels safe with Leigh-Anne.

All too soon, Leigh-Anne is putting a hand on her arm and telling her that she has to go on in a bit. Jade pouts at her and Leigh-Anne laughs and tells her that she’ll be back as soon as she can. And then with a wink she adds, “Enjoy the show.”

Jade swallows hard as she waits for Leigh-Anne to take the stage. Something brushes her arm and she looks to her side and sees Liam standing next to her, his hand in Zayn’s. She smiles at him.

“Saw Leigh-Anne leave,” Liam comments. “Is she on next?”

Jade nods and then bites her lip.

Zayn chuckles. “I think you’re really going to like her show,” he says with a wink.

Jade has no time to figure out what the hell that’s supposed to mean, because the emcee is coming back out onstage and introducing the next act.

“Let’s give it up for that last dancer, Karma!” she says into the microphone. Cheers erupt from the audience and the emcee grins. “Good, I’m glad you liked her. Now, this is our last dancer for the night.” The crowd boos. “I know, I know, I’m disappointed too. But don’t worry, I saved you the best for last. She’s so hot she can burn your tongue. Spicy and saucy like you’ve never seen. This…is Pepper.”

The lights dim and the audience whoops and hollers. A low beat starts, steady and pounding, sending vibrations throughout the club.

_I, I feel like I’m losing my mind, mind…_

A single spotlight appears on a lone figure onstage. Leigh-Anne stands with her head down and her feet apart. She wears a vintage-looking hat, like something a ‘30s actress would wear. She’s wearing a black t-shirt with ripped off sleeves and some obscure band on it. Her cut-off jean shorts barely cover her crotch.

She taps her foot to the beat and slowly lifts her hand to her head. When she rests it on top of her hat, she pulls her head up with a jerk, gazing out into the audience with dark eyes and a red frown.

_Hey, hey, few things that I wanna say, ay…_

She bends and sweeps the back of her hand along the floor in a single graceful movement. She begins to sway her hips back and forth slowly.

_She’s prettier than I’ll ever be… Got yourself a beauty queen…_

As the music comes to a head, Leigh-Anne takes off her hat and brings it down to her chest slowly, letting out her wild afro. She looks side to side, sliding one hand down her stomach, bringing her shirt up as she drags her hand skyward, revealing her flat stomach.

_She can fuck you good, but I can fuck you betta etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, ay…_

When the beat drops, Leigh-Anne throws her hat off to the side, strutting her way down the stage with purpose. Her hips sway seductively as she walks to the beat of the music. A couple of bills are thrown onstage, but Leigh-Anne isn’t even close to being finished.

_My way, remember screaming my name, ame…_

The music slows back down and Leigh-Anne stops at the edge of the stage. As slowly as the music, Leigh-Anne drags a hand down to the hem of her shirt. She teases the crowd as she shows them a slice of her skin. The crowd yells and then boos when she drops her shirt back down.

Leigh-Anne laughs, her grin wide as she lowers her hands down a couple of inches to the waistband of her shorts. Jade finds herself smiling back at Leigh-Anne, thriving off how excited Leigh-Anne got from the audience’s disappointment.

Leigh-Anne slowly unbuttons her shorts, giving the audience a sultry look as she does so. She tilts her head, as if contemplating if they deserve it. She bites her lip, Jade blushes, and then—

_She can fuck you good, but I can fuck you betta etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, ay…_

She drops her shorts to the ground and the crowd cheers. She grips the pole with both her hands and humps it like there’s no tomorrow. She swings her head back and forth, and then uses her hands to swing around the pole so that she’s facing the audience. She puts her hands behind her and then grinds back into the pole with her ass.

_I know she’s perfect and worth it… I bet she’s beautiful…_

Standing sideways, Leigh-Anne holds onto the pole with both hands. Then she moves her feet forwards until they’re on the other side of the pole. Using her hands as leverage, she lifts her feet up and brings her legs so that the pole is sandwiched between them. Then she lets go of the pole with one hand and swivels her body so that she’s facing the audience.

Jade stares at her in awe. That cannot be possible to do with her body. And yet, there she is, doing it with ease, all while grinding her body up and down to please the audience. The bills being thrown at her face don’t seem to be distracting her at all.

_She can fuck you good, but I can fuck you betta…_

The music switches to a dubstep beat. Keeping her legs around the pole, Leigh-Anne drops her other hand from the pole and then plants them flat on the ground. Then she carefully removes her legs from the pole and brings them down to the ground.

Laying horizontally on the floor, she turns her head so that she’s facing the audience. She grabs the bottom of her shirt and raises it up and over her head in one fluid movement. She brings her arms back down to her sides and curves her body up from the floor.

She thrusts up and down rapidly. Her legs spread apart and she runs her hands across her breasts and down her stomach, dangerously close to her crotch. She reaches one hand past her crotch and in between her legs. She brings her hips up even farther, and then raises her upper body until she’s sitting up on the floor.

_She can fuck you good, but I can fuck you betta etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, ay…_

She swivels around so that she’s facing the crowd with her legs facing straight out towards them. The crowd is losing their minds now that all her clothes are off (save her bra and underwear) and bills are flying from every direction. Jade almost wishes that she had a couple of bills to throw out there as well, just to let Leigh-Anne know how much she’s enjoying her performance.

Almost as if Leigh-Anne could hear what she was thinking, she turns and stares at where Jade is hiding backstage behind the curtain. She throws her a quick wink before facing the audience again. Jade blushes even harder, and glances at Zayn and Liam, hoping they didn’t notice. From the way they’re staring back at her with wide eyes and raised eyebrows Jade can assume that they did.

_I bet she’s beautiful… But can she touch you until you go oh…_

Leigh-Anne whips her head around as she plants her hands behind her back. Then she thrusts up into the air a couple of times, throwing her head back like in ecstasy. She brings her hands up then and slides them under her bra, cupping her breasts until they’re practically coming out of her bra.

_She can fuck you good, but I can fuck you betta etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, etta, ay…_

She jumps to her feet and grabs the pole again. She leans back from it sideways, her head tilting back at what looks like an uncomfortable angle. She twists her body so that it faces that crowd and slides a hand down her stomach and into her panties. The crowd goes wild as she brings it out and licks it. Jade’s mouth drops open and she starts to feel a wetness between her thighs. _Shit_.

As the song draws to a close, Leigh-Anne lets go of the pole and stands straight up. She sways her hips and rubs her hands all over her body and then finally—

_I can fuck you betta, baby!_

She drops to the floor in a splits. The crowd cries and shouts, throwing mountains of cash onto the stage. Leigh-Anne smiles and then jumps back up to her feet. She bends and blows them a kiss before joining Jade backstage.

“So, how was I?” Leigh-Anne asks, looking almost shy.

Jade stares at her for a second, trying to find her voice. When she does, it’s raspy and hollow, like she had just been properly fucked. And watching Leigh-Anne gyrating out there, she might as well have been. “You were—wow.”

Leigh-Anne laughs, and Jade looks around to see if Liam and Zayn are as well, but they’re gone. Probably to give Jade and Leigh-Anne some privacy. Or make-out. Either way, Jade is glad that they’re not here to witness this.

Leigh-Anne grabs Jade’s hands suddenly. She looks down at the fingers, playing around with Jade’s for a little bit. Finally, she looks back up and says, “We should go out.”

“We’re already out,” Jade says with a smile.

“I mean like out, out,” Leigh-Anne says. When Jade still doesn’t get what she means she huffs with a laugh and says, “I want to get out of here, Jade. I want to get _drunk_.”

Jade giggles at the way Leigh-Anne practically whines the words. “We could. But you know I’m not that fond of crowds. I won’t be much fun.”

Leigh-Anne shrugs. “We could just hang out at one of ours.”

Jade’s mouth drops open and she stares at Leigh-Anne in disbelief. “You want to—like to one of our _apartments_? I thought you wanted to go to a club or something.”

“Do you have alcohol?” Leigh-Anne asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Um, yeah.”

“Then let’s go to your apartment,” Leigh-Anne says. “If that’s okay with you. We can always go to mine.”

“No it’s okay,” Jade says. “We can go to mine. But I just have to ask—are you sure you don’t want to go to a club or a bar? I can assure you that it will be _way_ more fun there than at my apartment.” Jade laughs.

Leigh-Anne smiles, and then cups Jade’s chin gently with her fingers. Stroking her thumb down her chin, she says, “Just want to be with you.”

And how can Jade say no to that?

***

Jade laughs uncontrollably as she grasps Leigh-Anne’s arm to stay upright. Leigh-Anne tells her the story of how long it took her to do that move on the pole from earlier that night. Hearing about Leigh-Anne falling on her ass multiple times really shouldn’t be that funny, and maybe if Jade wasn’t so hammered she wouldn’t find it funny. As it is, it’s probably one of the most hilarious stories she’s ever heard.

“Fuck you!” Leigh-Anne laughs, lightly slapping Jade’s arm. “It’s not funny! I want to see you try and perfect that move without falling on your ass.”

Jade takes a sip of her drink—rum and coke, which she isn’t even that fond of, but those were pretty much the only two things she had lying around. “Alright.”

Leigh-Anne huffs. “Alright? You actually want to try?”

Jade shrugs. “Why not? Maybe I could become a stripper.”

Leigh-Anne raises an eyebrow. “Really? You want to become a stripper?”

“Is that a problem?” Jade says defiantly, trying to stare down Leigh-Anne. But her eyes keep wandering and her head keeps swaying back and forth like a bobblehead.

“No, definitely not,” Leigh-Anne says. She places her hands on Jade’s cheeks and holds her head up in place. Jade laughs. “It just doesn’t really seem like your kind of thing.”

“Yeah well,” Jade says, “when you lose your job anything can become your kind of thing.”

Leigh-Anne lets go of Jade’s face and Jade’s head drops. Jade pouts at her, wanting nothing more than for Leigh-Anne’s hands to be on her face again. They were so soft but firm, like she would’ve held onto Jade forever if she could.

“You lost your job?” Leigh-Anne says.

Jade nods, looking down at her drink. She takes a big gulp of it and says, “But I don’t wanna talk about that right now.” She sets her drink down on the coffee table and spreads her arms out wide, almost hitting Leigh-Anne in the face. “I wanna have some fun!”

Leigh-Anne laughs and soon enough they’re up off the couch and dancing in the middle of Jade’s living room like they’re at a club. Well, maybe a high school dance would be more accurate with the way they’re jumping around and shouting along to the words of the songs.

_Since we found out… That anything could happen…_

Leigh-Anne holds onto Jade’s hands as she spins her around. Jade laughs, and almost falls to the ground in her drunken stupor. Leigh-Anne grabs her waist before she fall though and pulls her close against her body.

Jade feels like every part of her body is on fire. And not just because of the alcohol. She can feel every part of Leigh-Anne that touches her body, from the way her hands grip her hips tightly to the way she breathes fast and heavy.

_Stripped to the waist, we fall into the river… Cover your eyes so you don’t know the secret…_

In that moment, everything stops for Jade as she and Leigh-Anne stare at each other. The music, the living room, everything falls away as Jade gets lost in the deep brown of Leigh-Anne’s eyes. Even though her mind has been spinning all night, just looking at Leigh-Anne like this, having Leigh-Anne hold her in her arms like this, has made her mind clearer than ever.

She swears that Leigh-Anne inches her face closer to Jade’s. Jade catches her breath and closes her eyes, ready for the soft pressure of Leigh-Anne’s lips on her own. But it never comes. Instead she feels a different pressure on her lips.

Jade opens her eyes and notices Leigh-Anne’s thumb swiping the side of her lips. Leigh-Anne whispers, “You had some lipstick…”

She trails off, her thumb resting on Jade’s lip and her eyes staring at Jade’s mouth. Jade nods, asking, “Is it gone now?”

“Yeah,” Leigh-Anne says, but makes no move to take her thumb away.

Jade bites her lip and tilts her face away, feeling vulnerable beneath her gaze. Why was she staring at Jade like that? Like Jade was the most amazing and beautiful person she had laid her eyes on. Clearly Leigh-Anne has never looked in the mirror.

_I know it’s gonna be… I know it’s gonna be…_

Her head is tilted back up again by Leigh-Anne’s soft fingers. Leigh-Anne shakes her head, says lowly, “Don’t hide.” She dips her head until they’re lips are practically brushing. Jade waits with bated breath for Leigh-Anne to close the space—

“Hey! Turn down your fucking music! The entire fucking street can hear it!”

Their moment is broken by a pounding on the wall and Jade’s neighbor yelling. Leigh-Anne groans and steps away from Jade. She turns the music down and says without looking at Jade, “I should probably call a cab and head home.”

“Okay,” Jade says. Just because they were being yelled at by an annoying neighbor who exists just to ruin fun doesn’t mean they don’t have to stop what they were doing. But a glance at the clock on the microwave tells Jade that it is getting late.

Leigh-Anne looks at her over her shoulder as she bends over to put on her shoes. “I really liked hanging here with you. I hope we can do it again sometime.”

Jade hopes so too. Except with a different (better) ending. “Um, yeah, me too. I’ll—I’ll see you later I guess.”

Leigh-Anne stares at her for a second before saying, “Give me your phone.”

Jade gives her a confused look but hands over her phone. In return, Leigh-Anne gives Jade her own phone.

“Put your number in,” Leigh-Anne says, glancing up from Jade’s phone. “I really don’t want the next time we meet up to be at the strip club. I just want to…get coffee or something simple, you know?”

Jade nods and puts her number in under _Jade Thirlwall_. When she gets her phone back she sees that Leigh-Anne has put her number in Jade’s phone under _Pepper_ with the smiley face with its tongue sticking out emoji. Jade giggles when she sees it.

“Alright, bye Jade,” Leigh-Anne says, wiggling her fingers at Jade.

As soon as Leigh-Anne is out the door, Jade leans back against the door with a sigh. She can’t believe how _easy_ it is to hang out with her and say whatever she wants without worrying that Leigh-Anne is going to judge her. Then again, she was drunk, but even earlier before she was drunk it was easy to talk to Leigh-Anne.

She falls asleep that night with the image of Leigh-Anne staring down at her mouth and leaning in close to her playing in her mind.

***

Getting coffee with Liam the next morning—wearing sunglasses and a beanie so no one can see what absolute trash she is—turns out to be simultaneously the best and the worst idea in the world.

It’s the best idea ever because she desperately needs the caffeine. It’s been a long week full of essays and readings that she barely even remembers getting done, not to mention the night she had last night.

It’s the worst idea because Liam keeps staring at her from across the table with wide eyes. And he keeps biting his lip and Jade just _knows_ that he’s dying to ask her about Leigh-Anne.

“Oh my god, _what_?” Jade finally cracks. She’s been best friends with Liam for a long time and she’s learned to withstand certain things, but this—him string at her with big and wide, almost sad eyes—is something she hasn’t been able conquer.

Liam smirks and leans back in his chair, triumphant. “Just noticed that you and Leigh-Anne disappeared after her performance last night. Where’d you go?”

“My apartment,” Jade says. “We just talked, drank a little, do what girls do.”

Liam raises an eyebrow. “You did what girls who are _really into other girls_ do?”

Jade blushed. “Actually, no. Besides, I don’t even know if she likes girls.” Although, from the way Leigh-Anne was staring at Jade last night she could probably guess that Leigh-Anne is most _definitely_ into girls.

“Oh she is,” Liam says casually before taking a sip of his drink.

“And how the hell do you know that?” Jade asks him.

“Zayn told me,” Liam says. Jade probably could have guessed that. “He said that Leigh-Anne is bisexual and that she thinks you’re cute.”

Jade can’t help it, she blushes at the thought of Leigh-Anne calling her “cute”. But that doesn’t mean she believes it. “That’s not true.”

“Fine, don’t believe me,” Liam says. “But I know you’ve seen the way she looks at you. _I’ve_ seen the way she looks at you. Hell, the entire strip club has seen the way she looks at you. And she is way into you.”

“Well I don’t really have time to date someone right now,” Jade tells him. “You know I have school to deal with, working on my thesis. My parents would raise hell if they found out I was gay and frequenting a strip club, so I’ve got that to worry about as well.” She adds in a lower voice, hoping Liam doesn’t hear, “Then there’s the whole losing my job thing…”

“You lost your job?” Liam yells loud enough for some people at the tables surrounding them to hear. They both shoot them all an apologetic look and Liam says, quietly, “When did you lose your job? And why didn’t you tell me?”

“Look, it’s not really a big deal,” Jade says. “Okay, so I lost the thing that’s going to pay my rent, and my bills, and help with my student loans, but it’s okay!” She realizes that she sounds a little desperate, like she’s still trying to convince herself that it’s okay, not just Liam.

“Jade, you know that if you need help—” Liam starts.

“You’re there for me,” Jade finishes. “I know, I know. But I don’t need help, okay? I’m perfectly fine!” Now she sounds fucking hysterical. Great.

Liam’s lips curve down and his eyes turn sympathetic. He reaches across the table and goes to pat Jade’s hands. Jade pulls her hands away from him quickly, because she doesn’t need his fucking help. She doesn’t need anyone’s help.

Liam sighs and he puts his hands back into his lap. “Why are you so stubborn, Jade?”

Jade stares down at her coffee. “I get it from my mom.”

***

Two days later Jade gets a phone call in the middle of class. She feels it vibrating in her pocket, but she refuses to answer it because this is her most important class and no way is she going to risk missing a second of what her professor is saying.

But the thing is, the noise of the vibrations are fucking loud as hell. Even with her hand covering her pocket in a feeble attempt to stifle the noise, a couple of students shoot glares in her direction for disrupting the class. She shrugs her shoulders as if to say, “What can you do?”

She’s curious though. Jade has to admit, she really doesn’t have a lot of friends (which is what happens when you turn down going to the bar with classmates multiple times), but the few she does have know her schedule well enough to know when and when not to call her. Which makes her wonder who the hell was that calling her?

Probably just a telemarketer.

But what if it wasn’t?

When her professor finally dismisses the class Jade is all too eager to whip her phone out of her pocket to see who called her. And her heart does a little leap for joy at the sight of _Pepper :p_ on her screen. She listens to the voicemail Leigh-Anne sent her.

“ _Jade, oh my god! You have to call me back as soon as you get this. I have something really important to tell you.”_

And that’s it.

Jade stares at her phone in disbelief. If it was really that important why wouldn’t Leigh-Anne just tell her on the voicemail? She supposes some things aren’t meant to be told through message, but that’s if, like, your dog dies or something. Why would Leigh-Anne be calling her about her dead dog?

She presses Leigh-Anne’s (Pepper’s) name to call her as she walks back to her apartment from class. It rings just once before Leigh-Anne is picking up.

“ _Jade!_ ” Leigh-Anne says excitedly.

Jade blinks. She’s pretty not even Liam has ever been that excited to talk to her on the phone. Even when Jade had gone away to camp for three weeks when they were eleven. “Hey Leigh-Anne. What’s going on?”

“ _If you’re interested,_ ” Leigh-Anne says, and Jade can tell that she’s trying to contain her excitement, “ _my boss, Georgia, has invited you to come down to the club for an interview!_ ”

Jade literally stops in the middle of the sidewalk. She doesn’t pay attention to the annoyed people yelling and shoving at her. “You—for like…a job?”

“ _Yes, for a job!_ ” Leigh-Anne says, practically squealing into the speaker. “ _You mentioned the other night that you had lost your job, and so I asked Georgia if she was looking for anybody to help out at the club._ ”

Oh. Jade sees what this is. It’s a pity job interview. Leigh-Anne feels bad for her because poor little Jade is broke and lost her job and can’t find a new one. Jade continues walking, stomping down the sidewalk, as she says, “Yeah, well tell Georgia thanks for the offer, but I—”

“ _No, wait, listen Jade,_ ” Leigh-Anne says with a huff. “ _If you think I’m doing this because I feel bad for you, I’m_ not _._ ”

“Really?” Jade snorts. “Because it sure sounds like you are.”

“ _If you would just fucking listen to me…_ ” Leigh-Anne trails off, probably waiting to see if Jade is going to cut her off again. When she doesn’t, Leigh-Anne continues, “ _Good. You mentioned that you didn’t have a job, and I got to thinking, hey, Georgia mentioned a while ago that she was looking for a new dancer. Well, she had already filled that position,_ but _, she had heard about your help with Jesy’s costume the other night—_ ”

“Which really wasn’t that big of a deal,” Jade can’t help but put in.

“ _—and she would love your help with designing our costumes,_ ” Leigh-Anne finishes. “ _Just—I can tell you don’t like me helping you out. But at least come down for the interview. And I’ll make sure that Georgia doesn’t go easy on you. But if you still think that we’re doing this because we feel bad for you then don’t take the job. Okay?_ ”

Jade sighs. Leigh-Anne seems genuine, and although she hates getting help from other people, she _really_ needs a job. So she sighs and replies, “Okay. When’s the interview?”

***

Working at the strip club is nothing like Jade expects. In fact, she barely goes down there enough to actually say that she’s working _at_ the place. She spends most nights at home in her apartment sewing and repairing costumes (which doesn’t take long at all since there’s not much to them). Then she’ll go down to the club on the weekends to help with any last minute adjustments.

It’s actually kind of the perfect job. She doesn’t have to go out that much. She gets to stay backstage where there are a lot less people (although, with the way everyone yells and rushes around, you’d think that it was a zoo rather than a strip club). Plus, she gets to see Leigh-Anne every single week.

Also, the strippers are way different than Jade had expected them all to be. She had expected them to be standoffish with a haughty attitude, but the strippers she meets there are some of the sweetest and most genuine people Jade has ever met.

Other than Leigh-Anne, the girl Jade finds herself the most drawn to is Jesy, the girl whose costume she had helped fix the other night. Jesy is quiet, like her, but blunt and straight to the point. Jade loves how honest she is; she feels like she can trust her easily.

There’s also the bartender, Perrie. Although Jade barely has any time to actually talk with her, the few times she has she’s really enjoyed their conversations. Perrie seems like she’s suave and cool, but she’s one of the weirdest fucking people Jade has ever met. She’ll constantly do weird voices and make funny faces for no reason whatsoever other than she wants to.

Then there’s Leigh-Anne. Leigh-Anne continues to make an effort to stand by Jade’s side backstage even though Jade has become more acquainted with all the performers. When Jade asks Leigh-Anne will answer that it’s to make her feel more comfortable, but Jade likes to think that Leigh-Anne just likes being near her. At least, that’s what she hopes Leigh-Anne thinks.

Jade wishes that she could say that she and Leigh-Anne hang out a lot outside of the club, but sadly that isn’t true. They both try to find times to meet up, but either Jade has class, or Leigh-Anne has rehearsal, or—it just never works out in their favor.

But Jade loves her job and thinks it’s pretty much the most perfect job she could ever ask. Which is why, of course, it only takes about three weeks into her job for everything to go downhill.

“What the hell do you mean Veronica’s leg is broken?”

Jade turns from where she’s doing a last minute hem on Jesy’s skirt. Georgia and one of the dancers, Lauren, are having a heated argument complete with red faces, angry glares, and wild gestures.

“I mean exactly what I said,” Lauren says, her arms crossed petulantly. “Veronica broke her leg mountain biking and it’s going to take six months to heal.”

Georgia groans. “Fuck! That means we’re out two solos, unless someone wants to fill in for her?” She looks around the room with a raised eyebrow, looking for any volunteers. All of the girls shrink back, looking around for someone brave enough to volunteer.

Jesy huffs. “Every single one of us already has two or more solos. You can’t expect us all to be jumping up and down for the opportunity to take on more. Besides, what the hell are we supposed to do out there? It’s not like we have anything else rehearsed.”

Georgia throws her hands up in exasperation. “Everyone out there right now has paid for a two hour performance. What am I supposed to do if we have to shave off ten minutes?”

“It’s not like they’ll notice,” Lauren says. “They’ll all be hammered as hell by the end of the night.”

“I’ll do it.”

Jade can’t believe she just said that. In fact, there’s no _way_ she ever would have said that. And yet, everyone in the room is turning to look her way in shock.

“But Jade,” Georgia says, all anger and frustration in her voice gone, replaced with softness and comfort, “you don’t have any dances and you have no training. I appreciate the help, but you really don’t have to.”

“I want to though,” Jade says. She doesn’t know why she’s so determined to go out there, all alone, and strip for a bunch of drunk guys in their mid-40s. But Georgia seems desperate, and she doesn’t want any of the other girls to go out there when they really don’t want to. And they’ve all been so nice to her that she feels like she kind of owes them. “It’s just for tonight, yeah? And then you’ll find a replacement for Veronica as soon as possible?”

“Of course,” Georgia says quickly. “But Jade, I don’t see how—”

“I took dance class for twelve years,” Jade says. “So I know a few moves. I’ll just amend them to include taking off my clothes.” She laughs, hoping to lighten the mood, but it doesn’t work. Everyone just keeps staring at her blankly. “I’ve also been watching you all for three weeks, so I know some things.”

Jade watches as Georgia and Leigh-Anne exchange quick glances. She wonders what Leigh-Anne thinks about all this. She’s been silent this whole time and it makes Jade wonder if she’s not completely supportive of Jade going up there.

Finally, Georgia says, “Someone find a spare costume for Jade. We can’t have her going up there looking like that.”

“I’ll do her hair,” Lauren volunteers.

“And I’ll help you with your makeup,” Jesy is quick to say.

As Jade is bustled into a chair in front of one of the many mirrors, she spares a quick glance back at Leigh-Anne. Leigh-Anne is staring back at her with an unreadable look in her eyes.

“Hey,” Jade says softly, beckoning her over to her.

Leigh-Anne offers her a small smile and comes to stand beside her. “I can’t believe you just did that,” she says, huffing out a laugh.

Jade can’t help but grin. She’s so glad that Leigh-Anne isn’t angry about this. What Leigh-Anne would have to be angry about, Jade has absolutely no idea. But Leigh-Anne has been so protective over Jade these last few weeks, always asking her if she’s okay after any interaction with one of the other girls. It wouldn’t surprise her if Leigh-Anne was going to try and protect over this as well.

And although Jade hates the idea that she needs to be protected, it’s different with Leigh-Anne. Liam too. With them it isn’t because they think she’s some innocent and naïve little girl that doesn’t completely understand the ways of the world. They don’t protect her because they think that she’s fragile and can’t defend herself. They watch over her because they know her fears and how nervous she can get around people she doesn’t know very well, and they just want to make sure it’s not too much for her. They want to help her escape if she can’t handle it.

Maybe that’s why she likes Leigh-Anne so much. It took years for Liam to figure that out, but Leigh-Anne? It took just a couple of days.

Leigh-Anne’s smile falters and she takes one of Jade’s hands in hers. “I just want you to know that I believe in you. But, it’s not really like anything you’ve encountered before. I know you said you had dance lessons, but when you’re out there don’t think of it as dancing. Try to think of it as—seduction. Try to seduce someone you really like but has never given you the time of day. Think of that when you’re out there. That’s the simplest way to put it since you’ve had no time to rehearse.”

Jade swallows and nods. Seduction. She can do that. Right?

Leigh-Anne squeezes her hand. “I know you’re nervous. And if you feel like you can’t do it, then let me or Georgia know. We’ll forgive you. Just—try to have fun.”

“Fun,” Jade repeats in a hollow voice.

Leigh-Anne laughs and plants a kiss on Jade’s cheek. “I’ll be standing here the whole time. If you get a little nervous, just look at me, alright?”

“Alright,” Jade agrees.

Leigh-Anne stays by her side for a couple more minutes until she’s being called away by one of the other dancers.

“Fun,” Jade says to herself. “Seduction. You can do this, Jade. Leigh-Anne believes in you.”

They decide to put Jade in right after Leigh-Anne and before Jesy. The reason being that they’re the two best dancers so if Jade completely fucks up then they can get the crowd cheering again. Leigh-Anne stands by her side the entire time she gets ready, helping her with her costume, giving her more pointers, and just keeping her relaxed.

Jade barely pays any attention to Leigh-Anne’s performance because she’s so nervous about her own. From what she can tell though she’s really gotten the crowd excited. There isn’t a single space on the stage that doesn’t have a dollar bill on it.

“Everyone give it up for Pepper!” Georgia calls out to the crowd after Leigh-Anne’s performance. The crowd whistles and applauds. “Now our next dancer is new to the game, so be gentle with her.” There’s a single _whoop_ from the crowd and Jade gulps. “So everyone put your hands together for—” Georgia freezes, realizing that Jade doesn’t have a stage name.

Without even thinking about it, Jade quietly yells out “Honey” to Georgia. Georgia smiles and repeats it back to the crowd.

The lights dim and Jade almost forgets to step out onto the stage. Lauren gives her a little push and then Jade is walking out there on autopilot. The song starts up, “Buttons” by the Pussycat Dolls because that was the song that Veronica had used for her set.

Jade knows the song, remembers dancing to it in her bedroom when she was in high school. But she’s pretty sure those moves aren’t going to come in handy tonight.

_What it do babyboo…_

A single spotlight shines on Jade and it takes everything within her to stop from shielding her eyes from the brightness. Instead, she lowers her face to the ground, trying to keep up something like an air of mystery for the crowd.

She starts to sway her hips, trying to find the beat. It takes her a couple of seconds, but eventually she finds the rhythm.

_I’m telling you to loosen up the buttons, baby (uh huh)…_

The entire stage lights up and she finds herself walking down the stage with purpose. She has no idea what she’s doing, in fact, she’s pretty sure she’s copying one of Leigh-Anne’s dances, but it seems to work. She notices the crowd dancing a little. But no one has thrown any bills at her yet. She supposes it’s time for her to take off her clothes then.

_Sayin’ what you gon’ do to me… But I ain’t seen nothing…_

She looks to Leigh-Anne quickly for reassurance. Leigh-Anne nods her head and then mimics taking off her clothes. So Jade did have the right idea after all.

She starts unbuttoning her shirt and the crowd starts cheering. She smiles and looks back at Leigh-Anne. Leigh-Anne mouths the words “Slow down” and Jade nods. Turning back to the crowd she lets her hands drop to her sides again.

_Typical… Hardly the type I fall for…_

Jade walks across the stage sideways slowly, exaggerating her movements. She has no idea what she’s doing and a quick glance at the crowd tells her that they have no idea either. But she’s listening to the music, trying to do what it tells her.

_I’m a sexy mama (mama)… Who knows just how to get what I wanna (wanna)…_

She stops at the end of the stage and shimmies down to the ground. She points at the crowd for a moment before she shimmies back up again. The crowd cheers and feeling fueled by that she licks her finger, drawing it out so that the crowd can see her tongue and that she knows just what to do with it.

The crowd goes even wilder, and she even gets a couple of bills thrown at her. Jade grins, glancing back at Leigh-Anne as if to say, “Look what I did!” Leigh-Anne gives her a thumbs up and mouths, “Keep going.”

_You been sayin’ all the right things all night long…_

Jade struts back across the stage to the other side. She blows the crowd kisses every once in a while as she goes, earning her some more dollar bills.

_Baby can’t you see (see)… How these clothes are fittin’ on me (me)…_

She runs her hands down her sides as she shimmies down to the floor, something she’s seen Leigh-Anne do a million times and knows the crowd enjoys. After she shimmies back up, instead of licking her finger again she parts her blouse, teasing the crowd a little.

She gets even more bills on this side of the stage for that. She winks at them in thanks as she walks back to center stage.

_I’m tellin’ you to loosen up my buttons, baby (uh huh)…_

Jade finishes unbuttoning her shirt, and then pulls it off completely. The crowd cheers now that she’s topless (aside from the lilac bra that one of the dancers let her borrow since it wasn’t like she could go out there in her sports bra). With one hand on her hip, she swings the shirt around in the air with the other hand. Then she throws it somewhere behind her.

She bends down, hands on her knees as she whips her head around to the beat. Then she drops on her ass and leans back as she spreads her legs. More dollar bills are thrown at her. She sits back up with her legs still spread apart so that she’s doing a splits.

_You say you’re a big boy… But I can’t agree…_

She puts her legs back together and sits so that she’s kneeling. She leans forward and locks eyes with the closest man to the stage. She gestures for him to come closer. When he does, his eyes heavily lidded and his mouth dropped open, Jade lifts her chin and bites her lips.

_I wonder (wonder)… If I’m just too much for you…_

Keeping eye contact with him, she runs her hands down her exposed stomach, swiveling her hips. Then she dips her hands below the waistband of her shorts, making the crowd go crazy. The man just keeps watching her, his lower lip caught between his teeth.

She’s seen most of the other girls doing this before, interacting with the audience, letting them touch them and be a part of the show. But for some reason she’s never seen Leigh-Anne do it. She glances back at Leigh-Anne to see if this is okay, and while Leigh-Anne nods, Jade swears that she looks a little annoyed.

_Baby can’t you see (see)… How these clothes are fittin’ on me (me)…_

Jade reaches for the man’s hands and places them on her waist. Then, putting her hands in her hair she starts swiveling her hips around. The crowd cheers and dollar bills start flying as the man rubs his hands down her sides. She hates the way they feel, rough and clammy, but she tries not to let it bother her as she throws her head back in pretend ecstasy.

_I’m tellin’ you to loosen up my buttons, baby (uh huh)…_

She stands back up, but not before blowing the man a kiss. She walks backwards until she’s right in front of the pole. She knows that she can’t do any cool tricks like Leigh-Anne and the other girls, but that doesn’t mean that she can’t have a little fun with it.

She starts slowly unbuttoning her shorts, drawing it out to last the entire chorus this time. The audience whoops and hollers as she pulls down her shorts, throwing them back behind her. She’s wearing lilac panties that match her bra and have lace around the edges. She had practically begged not to wear a thong, and it had taken one of the girls almost half an hour to find a bra and underwear set that didn’t include a thong.

_Now you can get what you want… But I need what I need…_

Jade grips the pole with two hands and grinds against it. It’s nothing complicated, but it seems to get the crowd going. She runs one hand down her body some more as she grinds and that seems to make the crowd even more excited.

As the song flows into just instrumental, Jade turns so that she’s standing in front of the pole and she’s got both hands behind her back, curved around the pole. She grinds her ass back into the pole, shimmying down to the floor. Another move that she’s stolen from Leigh-Anne.

_I’m tellin’ you to loosen up my buttons, baby (uh huh)…_

She makes her way back up the edge of the stage for the ending of the song. The crowd is going wild now, cheering her own. She decides to end it a little more innocently, with just a couple of dance moves she remembers from her dance class when she was younger. The audience doesn’t seem to mind, and by the time she’s finished, she’s got quite the collection of bills on the stage. It might not be as much as Leigh-Anne’s collection, but she’s still pretty proud of herself.

She practically runs off the stage once the song is over. She throws herself into Leigh-Anne’s open arms, squeezing her tightly. As the crowd starts to go silent again for Georgia and Jade starts to calm down again, she realizes just how embarrassing that was.

“Oh my god, Jade,” Leigh-Anne says as she runs her hands through Jade’s now tangled hair. “That was amazing.”

Jade looks up at her and sees that she’s being completely sincere. “You think so? Oh god, I was so awkward out there.”

Leigh-Anne laughs and shakes her head. “It was your first time, you’re allowed to be. But you put on a good show.”

“And what was that thing where I licked my finger?” Jade continues, refusing to look at Leigh-Anne. “That was so weird. I can’t believe I got any money.”

Leigh-Anne puts a finger underneath Jade’s chin and lifts it. Jade is starting to think that this is becoming a thing of theirs. Not that she minds it.

“Babe, if I was in the crowd I would’ve spent my entire bank account throwing money at you,” she says.

Jade blushes, trying to hide her face, but Leigh-Anne won’t let her. “You’re just saying that.”

“But it’s making you feel better,” Leigh-Anne points out.

“That’s true,” Jade says.

“Jade! I need to talk to you!”

Jade reluctantly looks away from Leigh-Anne and notices Georgia motioning to her from across the room. Jade groans and hides her face in Leigh-Anne’s chest.

“She’s going to yell at me,” Jade mumbles. “She’s going to say that I was completely horrible and I should never show my face in here again—”

“She is _not_ ,” Leigh-Anne says with a laugh. “Just go talk to her. And if she says that then I’ll buy you a bucket of ice cream to make you feel better.”

Jade looks up. “Mint chocolate chip?”

Leigh-Anne smiles, putting a stray hair behind Jade’s hair. “Of course. Now go see what she wants.”

Jade unwraps herself from Leigh-Anne and heads over to wear Georgia is waiting. Georgia doesn’t say anything as she motions for Jade to follow her and leads Jade to the storage room where it’s quieter and more private.

“You were pretty good out there,” Georgia says.

Jade blinks at her in surprise. “Really?”

Georgia shrugs. “For a first-timer. Obviously there’s room for improvement, but I can’t wait to see what else you can do.”

Jade stares at her in disbelief. Is she saying what Jade thinks she’s saying? There’s only one way to find out. “Are you offering me a job as a dancer here?”

Georgia nods. “Just to fill in for Veronica until she comes back. But you’ll need to train hard. I don’t want any slacking off because I need only the best dancers here.”

“I—what?” Jade says, still in shock.

Georgia keeps going as if Jade hasn’t said anything. “Of course, I’ll pay you more for dancing. And I can have Leigh-Anne train you, since you seem to be the most comfortable with her. And I want you to find a different song to do, because ‘Buttons’ really doesn’t work for you.”

“Um, thank you,” Jade says once she’s sure that Georgia is finished talking. “But I don’t want it.”

Now it’s Georgia’s turn to be surprised. “You don’t want the job?”

Jade shakes her head. “It was fun, but it’s not really my thing. I don’t think I could do it night after night.”

Georgia stares at her, scrutinizing her for a moment. Then she says, “Okay,” and leaves Jade alone.

And that’s that.

***

Apparently that isn’t that. The following days consist of Leigh-Anne begging her to become a dancer with her. She insists that Jade has the potential to be the best dancer out of all of them. Even when Jade tells her that she can’t get up there and be half-naked in a room full of strangers Leigh-Anne points out that she was just fine the other night. Jade stops talking to her after that.

It’s only when Liam brings it up does Jade actually listen.

Jade had been trying her hardest not to let Liam know about what had transpired that night, but apparently Leigh-Anne didn’t get that memo. Leigh-Anne told Zayn about it, who told Liam, who demanded why Jade hadn’t said anything to him about it.

She wasn’t exactly sure why she wanted to hide it from Liam. Probably because he would laugh at her, and ask her about how awkward she was up there. But somehow the way he actually reacts is much, much worse.

“You should dance there,” Liam says.

Jade stares at him, her mouth wide open. “Fuck you,” she replies. A few people turn their heads to look at her, and one even has the audacity to shush her. She glares back at them.

They’re in the middle of a Starbucks that’s halfway between both of their apartments. They like to meet here when they’re both getting out of class so that they can catch up with each other, or maybe make plans to hang out later. That’s why they were _supposed_ to hang out initially, but now Liam is apparently going to spend the time lecturing her.

“Jade,” Liam says, setting his tea down so that Jade knows how serious he is. “You loved dance lessons growing up, don’t deny it. Just think of these as an extension of those lessons.”

“Except I strip down to my underwear in front of like a hundred leering guys,” Jade says. “Besides, you know I have social anxiety. I can’t just get up there and—”

“You did on Sunday,” Liam points out.

Jade shrugs. “Well, I suppose. But that was because I was helping them out and I felt like I _had_ to do it.”

“Tell me,” Liam says.

Jade gives him a confused look. “Tell you what?”

“Tell me what it was like for you up there,” Liam says. “And be honest with me, because I know you well enough to tell if you’re lying.”

Jade sighs. “Well, at first I was so nervous that I almost forgot to walk out there. In fact, Lauren literally had to push me.” She laughs at the memory, starting to lose herself in it. “I was fucking nervous as hell. All these dudes were staring at me, judging me to see if I’m sexy enough for their money. But then I just listened to the song and lost myself in it. When it came to taking off my clothes I was a little awkward. Then everyone was cheering me on, and I started getting more confident in my movements. I earned about fifty dollars from the dance that night.” She huffs and looks back at Liam. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Liam nods, grinning. “See, they loved you. And that’s with no practice. And you said it yourself, hearing them cheer for you made you more confident.”

Jade looks down at her coffee. “I don’t know, Liam. What if they were just cheering me on because I was so awkward that they felt bad for me?”

“From the way Leigh-Anne was talking about you,” Liam says, “I don’t think that was the case.”

Jade feels the heat rise in her cheeks at the mention of Leigh-Anne’s name. “I thought Zayn told you about it?”

“He did,” Liam confirms. “But then Leigh-Anne called me last night to ask me to try and convince you to become a dancer.”

Jade leans back in her chair and crosses her arms over her chest. “Oh. So that’s why you’re talking to me about this. Not because you actually think it would be good for me, but because Leigh-Anne put you up to it?”

“No, no, no,” Liam insists, putting his hands up in a surrender position. “If I really didn’t think it would be good for you, then I wouldn’t be talking to you about this at all. But I think that this could help your confidence, plus I know how much you love dancing.”

Jade sighs. Liam does have a point, but she’s not going to admit that to him. And now that he’s pointed all of this out to her, she doesn’t really have an excuse except, “I just don’t want to.” If Jade said that, and really meant it, then Liam would drop the subject in a heartbeat. But the thing is, Jade doesn’t really know if she means it.

“Can we just drop it?” Jade says. Then she sits up straighter, smirking. “You didn’t reply to my text until three hours later last night. What happened? Were you with Zayn?”

Liam’s cheeks turn bright red and he hides his face in his tea.

***

Later that night, Jade can’t stop thinking about the conversation she and Liam had had earlier that day. She knows he’s right, and now that she’s all out of good excuses, she can finally admit to herself that she really did enjoy being on stage that night.

It’s just past midnight, but Jade knows that there’s no way she’s going to get to sleep until she does this. She dials Leigh-Anne’s number, biting her lip harder each time it rings.

Leigh-Anne answers with a groggy, “ _Hello_?”

Jade takes a deep breath. “How soon can we start my training?”

***

The club looks completely different from when Jade was first there. When it had been all dim lighting with sweaty bodies clumped together, now there’s lights bright enough to rival a Walmart and a wide empty space. It had seemed so small, like there was barely any space to breathe or move that first night, and now Jade sees that you could pack an entire army in here.

The stage, however, looks much smaller than Jade had figured. Maybe it was the lighting that night, or the fact that it was the only place she had been looking, but it seems miniscule in comparison to the stage Jade had seen just a couple of nights ago.

“You made it!” a voice calls out, echoing off the walls. That’s different from the other night too; where Jade could barely hear someone standing right next to her then, she can now hear someone from across the room perfectly fine.

Leigh-Anne appears onstage, a smile just for Jade as she jumps down to her level. Jade feels her stomach twist with want as she eyes Leigh-Anne in her tight skirt and white crop top that shows off her belly button ring. And her skirt is hung so low on her hips that Jade can just see the top of her black underwear—

“Um, Jade?” Leigh-Anne says, her eyebrows raised as she stares at Jade expectantly.

Jade licks her lips and forces herself to look at Leigh-Anne’s face. “Hm, yeah?”

Leigh-Anne laughs, bright and chipper. “You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

Jade feels her face grow hot as she admits, “No.”

Leigh-Anne shrugs and grabs Jade’s hand. “That’s alright, wasn’t important. What’s important is helping you figure out your routine.”

Jade had almost completely forgotten that that was the reason she was here. Not to eye Leigh-Anne and try to get her to perform a personal lap dance for Jade, but to actually train. She takes her eyes off Leigh-Anne’s ass, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand.

Leigh-Anne hoists herself up onstage, and then gives Jade a hand up. She clutches the pole with a hand as she scrutinizes Jade. Jade feels naked beneath her gaze, but oddly, she doesn’t feel that embarrassed.

“Well,” Leigh-Anne finally says after some thought, “you’ve shown us that you can dance. But how well can you work a pole?”

“Um,” Jade says as she stares at the pole. “Don’t you think I should start with some basics? I’ve seen you guys work the pole, and uh…It’s kind of daunting.”

Leigh-Anne laughs and pushes herself off the pole. She disappears backstage with no explanation, leaving Jade alone to stand awkwardly onstage while wringing her hands. Leigh-Anne is so strange, she thinks. There’s no way to predict her behavior or what she is going to do next. She’s like an ocean, with her own thoughts and ways of doing things, never paying attention to anything or anyone else.

When Leigh-Anne comes back, it’s with a folding chair under her right arm. Jade raises an eyebrow at her as she sets the chair up in the middle of the stage. Leigh-Anne smirks at her and gestures her over. Jade walks over to her, her flats slapping against the ground with a loud sound that echoes all around her.

Leigh-Anne clutches the chair with a hand as she explains, “Since learning how to work the pole is going to take a while, we should work on your lap dance. We can’t have you working here with nothing to do, and this is a good way to start off. Especially because you can translate some of the moves you learn here to work for you on the pole.”

Jade nods and eyes the chair wearily. She’s seen lap dances being performed, has even gotten one herself, but she’s not sure if she can do it. Especially not on Leigh-Anne when this is supposed to be strictly professional.

Leigh-Anne must sense her hesitancy because she offers, “Why don’t I go first, show you how it’s done, and then you can try?”

Jade lets out a small sigh of relief. She hopes Leigh-Anne doesn’t hear it because not only does she not want Leigh-Anne to know about how nervous she is, but she doesn’t Leigh-Anne to see how excited she is about getting Leigh-Anne to perform a lap dance on her.

Leigh-Anne disappears backstage again, but for a much shorter amount of time. Then Jade hears the first notes of “Crazy in Love” (the version from the _Fifty Shades of Grey_ movie, which Jade actually laughs out loud at). Leigh-Anne comes back on stage, a sultry look on her face.

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no…_

Jade sits on the chair, and instinctually crosses her legs. Leigh-Anne stands in front of her, legs closed together and leans forward. Jade holds her breath as Leigh-Anne’s face comes so close to her own, and then she feels Leigh-Anne’s hands guiding her legs apart so that they’re spread.

Leigh-Anne steps forward into the space of Jade’s spread legs and reaches for Jade’s hands. She brings them to rest on her hips as she moves them slowly from side to side. Jade can’t help it as she brushes her hands up Leigh-Anne’s sides as Leigh-Anne sways downward and then back up.

_You got me looking, so crazy, my baby… I’m not myself lately I’m foolish, I don’t do this…_

Jade drops her hands back to her sides as Leigh-Anne turns around and swivels her ass down onto Jade’s lap. Jade bites her lip to stifle a moan as Leigh-Anne twists her ass down onto Jade’s crotch forcefully. Then her hands grab for Jade’s, and she places them back onto her hips.

“Go ahead and touch,” Leigh-Anne whispers as she leans her head back to brush her lips against Jade’s ear.

Jade nods stiffly and moves her hands across the round of Leigh-Anne’s cheek and down her thighs. Leigh-Anne lets out a small moan of appreciation, and Jade grows more confident in her movements. She bites her lip as she squeezes Leigh-Anne’s ass, hearing Leigh-Anne emit a sharp gasp.

_I’ve been playing myself, baby I don’t care… Baby your love’s got the best of me…_

Leigh-Anne turns around suddenly and brings her legs around Jade’s waist, effectively straddling her. Jade moves her hands back down to Leigh-Anne’s ass and pulls her in more firmly against her body. Leigh-Anne grinds down into Jade’s crotch, smirking as Jade groans.

Leigh-Anne sways her body upward, staying pressed against Jade’s body. She grips the back of the chair behind Jade’s head and thrusts against her. Jade grips the back of Leigh-Anne’s neck as she buries her face in Leigh-Anne’s breasts. And then she remembers that this isn’t a real lap dance, that this is all meant for training. She wonders if Leigh-Anne remembers that as well or if she’s just as lost in this performance as Jade is.

_‘Cause baby you got me, you got me, oh you got me, you got me…_

Jade grips the backs of Leigh-Anne’s thighs and pulls her forward until she’s seated more firmly on Jade’s lap. Leigh-Anne mouth is open in surprise, but her eyes are heavily lidded in a way that tells Jade she’s not mad about it. Jade grins and leans closely to Leigh-Anne’s face, almost brushing her lips—

And then she abruptly stands, surprising Leigh-Anne yet again. She keeps her arms wound tightly around Leigh-Anne’s waist as Leigh-Anne digs her heels into Jade’s back to stay up. Jade spins them around and then plants Leigh-Anne into the chair, straightening her legs until she’s in the same position that Jade had been in when they first started.

_I look and stare so deep in your eyes… I touch on you more and more every time…_

Her eyes are wide in shock at this turn of events, but then her mouth twists into a smirk as Jade straddles her hips and starts rutting against Leigh-Anne. She’s not as coordinated and graceful in her movements as Leigh-Anne was, but she is fueled by the passion Leigh-Anne gives her.

_Got me looking so crazy right now… Your love’s got me looking so crazy right now…_

Leigh-Anne arches up to meet her thrusts, and maybe this isn’t how a lap dance is supposed to be performed, but both of them are beyond the point of caring by now. Jade wraps Leigh-Anne’s hands around her waist as she grinds faster and faster against Leigh-Anne, panting into her neck. Leigh-Anne clutches Jade’s waist, digging her fingers into her ass in an attempt to pull Jade tighter against her.

_Looking so crazy in love, got me looking, got me looking so crazy in love…_

Jade pulls away and slows down her movements as she feels a familiar tightening in her stomach and wetness between her thighs. There’s no way that she’s going to come from a simple lap dance. Especially when Leigh-Anne is just trying to train her.

But Leigh-Anne makes it so hard when she presses her body up against Jade’s when Jade pulls away. Jade keeps her movements slow and light though, staring into Leigh-Anne’s eyes deliberately as if to say, “We have to stop now before we end up doing something that we both regret.” Leigh-Anne looks back at her, her pupils blown wide, and, _fuck_ , Jade wants to kiss her.

_Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no._

When the song stops Jade stops her movements completely. But she stays on Leigh-Anne’s lap as if frozen, her eyes darting between Leigh-Anne’s eyes and her parted mouth. Leigh-Anne’s eyes stay trained on Jade’s, and Jade wishes she could know what she was thinking.

“That was…” Jade says because she hates the way that her face is heating up under Leigh-Anne’s gaze. But she loses her train of thought as Leigh-Anne keeps staring at her, and ends up huffing out a laugh instead of finishing her sentence.

Leigh-Anne laughs, too, her eyes and nose scrunching up adorably. (And when did Jade start describing Leigh-Anne as “adorable”?) “It was something,” she says, and then ducks her head as she lets out another laugh.

It’s only then that Jade realizes that Leigh-Anne is still on her lap for no reason whatsoever. But it’s not like Jade can just push her off. And it’s not like Jade minds all that much either.

“So I’d say that you’ve got the lap dance down,” Leigh-Anne says as she plays with the ends of Jade’s hair.

“Are you sure I shouldn’t practice a little more?” Jade asks. “I think the ending was a little sloppy.”

Leigh-Anne hums. “Maybe. But then again most of the customers aren’t that reciprocating.” She raises and eyebrow and her mouth tilts up into a smirk.

Jade blushes at what Leigh-Anne is implying. “I should hope not.”

Leigh-Anne giggles before standing up. Jade sighs, disappointed, but takes the hand that Leigh-Anne is offering to help her up. But then once Jade is standing, Leigh-Anne doesn’t let go of her hand. Instead, she brushes her thumb along the back of Jade’s hand.

“We should stay and practice,” Leigh-Anne says, looking down at their intertwined hands, “but I’m kind of hungry. You wanna go get something to eat and then we can figure out your routine?”

Jade has never said yes to anything so fast in her life.

***

“So what are you majoring in?” Leigh-Anne asks, her mouth full of cheeseburger.

Jade picks at her fries, smiling down at them. When Leigh-Anne had asked her if she wanted to go out to eat Jade had expected them to go to some healthy vegan type place since Leigh-Anne is an athlete and probably looks after herself. But nope, here they were sitting cross-legged across from each other on the stage of the club eating McDonald’s. “I’m studying political science, actually.”

Leigh-Anne looks at her, raising her eyebrow. “No kidding?” Jade shakes her head. “No offense, but that would have been one of my last guesses.” She shrugs as she raises her burger back up to her mouth. “That’ll teach me to judge a book by its cover.”

“My mom wants me to go in law,” Jade admits. “Says that I would be good at it.”

Leigh-Anne furrows her eyebrows as she peers over at Jade. “What about what you want to do?”

“The thing is,” Jade says, looking away from Leigh-Anne because she hates the way she’s looking at Jade. Like Jade is worth so much more than other people say she is. But Leigh-Anne doesn’t even know her that well, so how could she think that? “I don’t know what I want to do. I mean, I like sewing and designing, and dancing is fun, but it’s not like I can make careers out of those things.”

Leigh-Anne sets down her burger. “Who told you that? Of course you can make careers out of those things. You shouldn’t give up your dream just because it won’t make you money. I love to dance, and here I am, making over 100k a year.”

Jade nearly chokes on her fries. “100k? You make that much money a year?”

Leigh-Anne nods, grinning. “Yeah, bet you’re really excited to join us now.”

“I mean it’s no lawyer’s salary,” Jade teases. “But at least I won’t have to be in school for seven years to earn that much.”

Leigh-Anne laughs, probably harder than necessary. “Speaking of school, we should probably work on figuring out a routine for you.”

Jade groans, leaning back on the stage and spreading her legs out in front of her. “We just ate. If we do any vigorous exercise after eating. We could get cramps.”

Leigh-Anne doesn’t respond, and Jade wonders why until a second later Leigh-Anne is coming up beside her and leaning over her. Jade’s breath catches in her throat at how close Leigh-Anne’s face is to hers.

“Then that kind of rules out the other thing I had in mind,” Leigh-Anne whispers with a smirk.

Jade puts her hands on Leigh-Anne’s waist. Not because she thinks Leigh-Anne is going to fall or anything, but mostly because she wants to and she can. “What was that?” Jade asks just as quietly, but only because Leigh-Anne has kind of taken her breath away.

Leigh-Anne’s eyes slide down her body in a way that makes Jade feel naked. Then she lets her eyes rest on Jade’s lips, leaning in even closer, breath coming harsh against Jade’s mouth as Leigh-Anne says, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

And then she stands up. Jade lets out the breath she had been holding. She’s so glad she doesn’t have a dick because she just knows that she would definitely have a hard on right now if she did.

Jade helps Leigh-Anne throw away their garbage from their meal, and then waits in the middle of the stage as Leigh-Anne goes to find some music for them to practice to.

_My anaconda don’t… My anaconda don’t… My anaconda don’t want none unless you got buns hun…_

Jade can’t help but laugh as Leigh-Anne emerges from backstage with a smirk. “You did not.”

Leigh-Anne grins. “Oh, but I did.”

Jade shakes her head, placing her hands over Leigh-Anne’s when she puts them on Jade’s hips. “I am not dancing to this in front of a hundred strangers.”

Leigh-Anne rolls her eyes. “Relax. I don’t expect you to dance to this. But it’s a good song to show you dance moves to, so just bear with me. Okay?”

Jade shakes her head. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

_By the way, what he say… He can tell I ain’t missing no meals…_

Leigh-Anne starts using her hands to sway Jade’s hips back and forth. “It’s all in the way you move your hips,” Leigh-Anne instructs her. “It’s not simply about being in time with the beat, but also about making everyone in the crowd think that you’re dancing just for them.”

“How do I do that?” Jade asks, letting her hands drop to her sides.

“I can’t really explain it,” Leigh-Anne admits. “For now, I’m just going to have to show you how it should look.”

She steps around Jade so that she’s behind her. Putting her hands back on Jade’s hips she starts moving them around again. Jade stands there like a mannequin as Leigh-Anne guides Jade’s hands back around Leigh-Anne’s neck.

“Don’t think,” Leigh-Anne mumbles into Jade’s hear, “just move.”

_Oh my gosh, look at her butt…_

That snaps Jade into motion. She starts grinding back into Leigh-Anne. She swears she hears Leigh-Anne gasp, but that could just be her imagination running wild. She tightens her grip around Leigh-Anne’s neck, bringing her face in closer to Jade’s until their cheeks are pressed together.

Their bodies move together like ocean waves, which is so not what the beat calls for, but Jade doesn’t really care. Because it’s not about the beat really, it’s about dancing for Leigh-Anne.

_Pussy put his ass to sleep, now he calling me NyQuil…_

Jade takes one hand away from Leigh-Anne’s neck and then brings it around Leigh-Anne’s back until it’s on her ass. Jade squeezes it, pulling Leigh-Anne tighter against her body. She feels Leigh-Anne grin against her cheek before she buries her face in Jade’s neck.

Jade’s breath hitches as she feels the sharp pain of a bite at her neck. But the pain doesn’t last as Leigh-Anne licks over it and then kisses it.

“God Jade,” Leigh-Anne says. “This is so…”

Now it’s Leigh-Anne’s turn to be at a loss for words. Jade laughs and then turns around so that she and Leigh-Anne are chest to chest. She slots a leg between Leigh-Anne’s thighs and grabs at her ass again so that they’re flush against each other.

Leigh-Anne groans as she starts grinding down onto Jade’s leg. Jade’s breathing stutters at the way Leigh-Anne, who is so graceful and careful in her movements, is going at Jade’s leg like it’s the last thing she’ll ever do.

Jade is so fucking turned on.

_Little in the middle, but she—_

The music cuts off, and so do Jade and Leigh-Anne. They stare at each other with wide eyes and wet hair matted to their sweaty faces. They both look as if they’ve been properly fucked.

“I see you’re making progress with your training, Jade,” comes Georgia’s voice from behind them.

Jade hears Leigh-Anne mutter a “fuck” under her breath as she untangles herself from Jade. Of course Jade only hears her say it rather than sees it since she is deliberately keeping her eyes off of Leigh-Anne.

“Georgia,” Leigh-Anne greets breathlessly and with a too big smile. “I didn’t know you were coming in today.”

Georgia snorts. “Clearly.”

Both Leigh-Anne and Jade look down at the ground.

“You looked very good out there,” Georgia adds. “In fact, it’s giving me an idea about Jade’s routine. I hope that you’re up for a suggestion?”

Jade looks up from the ground. “Of course,” she says too quickly. But who can blame her? After getting caught with Leigh-Anne humping her leg by their boss, she wants nothing more than to get on Georgia’s good side. “In fact, I kind of have no idea what to do for my routine, so by all means.”

Georgia smiles but doesn’t answer right away. She hums as she circles Jade and Leigh-Anne, eyeing them up and down. Jade glances at Leigh-Anne, gives her a look that says, “What the fuck is she doing?” Leigh-Anne just shrugs.

“Yes, this will work very nicely, I think,” Georgia finally says, grinning. “I think you two should dance together.”

“Well, sometimes we have two of us out on stage—” Leigh-Anne starts to say, but Georgia waves a hand at her, cutting her off.

“No,” she says. “No. I want you two to dance, like _that_ , together onstage for your routine. You’ll each have your own solos, of course, but I want you to also have a duet. What do you think?”

Jade and Leigh-Anne exchange a look. What Jade likes about dancing with Leigh-Anne is how easy it is. She was hesitant at first, but then all she could think about was Leigh-Anne and how her body felt underneath her own—

She thinks that Leigh-Anne is thinking the same thing. That it would be great to do a dance together, if it feels as easy and natural as it did today.

Leigh-Anne smiles at Jade. “I’m up for it if you are.”

Jade grins and turns to Georgia. “We’re in.”

***

Jade is in the middle of studying the next day when her phone rings. Hoping that it’s Leigh-Anne (after a grueling rehearsal the day before Leigh-Anne had promised Jade that she would call her the next day to hang out and Jade has been checking her phone every two seconds all day) she answers it without even looking at the caller ID.

It’s only when she hears the voice on the other end greet, “Oh, hello my sweet girl!” does Jade realize her mistake.

She manages to hold in her groan as she leans back on the chair and covers her eyes with an arm. “Hi Mom.”

“How are you, Jadesy?” her mother asks. “You know it’s been so long since I’ve talked to you. I just want to know how your studies are going, if you’re doing okay—oh! Do you need me to send you anything? Are you running low on food, laundry detergent—”

“I’m fine, Mom,” Jade interrupts. She hates interrupting, but she knows that if she doesn’t her mother will go on like that for half an hour before letting Jade speak. “School is going well, I’m actually studying right now.”

“That’s my girl,” her mother says. “Getting good grades I hope?”

“Of course,” Jade says, smiling. It’s the one thing that she can guarantee will make her mother proud: getting good grades.

“Oh good,” her mother says. “And how’s work? You complained about it last time we talked, so I hope it’s going better.”

Jade swallows hard. There’s no way she can tell her mother that she was fired and then hired to work as a costumer for a strip club. And then she was promoted to a dancer at said strip club and is currently working on a routine where she grinds on another girl for four minutes.

“Work is going well, too,” Jade says, because even though it’s vague, it’s the truth.

“I need more details, Jade!” her mother complains. “I haven’t talked to you in so long. I have no idea what’s going on in your life.”

“Not much is going on,” Jade lies. “Work is the same.” Another lie. “I’m not seeing anyone.” Technically true. Although she’s not really sure what’s up with her and Leigh-Anne. “If you want juicy gossip you should talk to Liam. He gets out way more than I do.” That used to be true.

“It’s a shame you’re not seeing anyone,” her mother says. “Do you remember Sam? He was such a nice boy, and you two were so happy together. Even when you weren’t together, you were always so happy. I still can’t believe you two broke up.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing, Mom,” Jade sighs, “We _looked_ happy. But that was all there was between us. Anyway, I’m not really looking for a relationship right now. I’ve got school and work. I just don’t have the time.”

“Well if you _are_ looking,” her mother says, “My coworker Sharon’s son just broke up with his girlfriend. She cheated on him, poor thing. And I’m sure that he would love your company, just to cheer him up. It doesn’t have to go any further than that—”

“Thanks Mom, I’ll think about it,” Jade says. Her phone makes a beeping noise and she looks at it to see a text from Leigh-Anne. She doesn’t read it just yet, but tells her mother, “I’ve really got to go, Mom. I’ve got a huge test tomorrow and I’m not even halfway through studying the chapter.”

“Okay,” her mother sighs. “But I want you to call me again soon. I want to know what’s happening in your life. Don’t make me wait a month again!”

“I won’t,” Jade promises, but she has a feeling she’s going to break that promise. “Bye Mom, I love you.”

“Bye honey, I love you too,” her mother says before hanging up.

She cringes at her mother’s use of the word “honey”. She knows it’s a term of endearment, but now that it’s her stripper stage name it’s a little weird for her mother to be calling her that.

She opens her messages and looks at the text Leigh-Anne sent her.

**_Pepper ;p_ ** _  
Sent 4:37 P.M._

_Hey tried calling you but it went straight to voicemail :( Anyway just wanted to know if you’re free to hang out later? Like 8ish? Let me know asap!_

Jade grins and quickly replies.

**_Jade Thirlwall_ ** _  
Sent 4:40 P.M._

_Sorry I was on the phone with my mom. Sure I can hang out at 8! Where are we going?_

After Leigh-Anne gives her the address to a bar that she knows Liam has been to a couple of times Jade tries to go back to studying. But after fifteen minutes of not being able to concentrate on anything except Leigh-Anne, she gives up. She spends the hours leading up to eight texting Leigh-Anne.

Fuck. This girl is seriously going to ruin her.

***

The bar is crowded for a Tuesday. Jade awkwardly squeezes through the packs of college students, occasionally standing on tip toes to try and see Leigh-Anne over the heads of everyone. Leigh-Anne sees her first though, and waves her over to a booth in the corner.

Leigh-Anne is surrounded by people that Jade doesn’t recognize, and she stops short. Leigh-Anne notices her hesitancy right away and stands up and walks over to her. Putting an arm around Jade’s shoulder she guides Jade over to the table.

“Don’t worry,” Leigh-Anne whispers in Jade’s ear as they walk. “They’re just my friends. And if they give you shit, then let me know, alright?”

Jade nods and then they’re stopping at the table. Leigh-Anne’s friends are all so deep in conversation with one another that they don’t notice Jade and Leigh-Anne at first. Not until Leigh-Anne shouts at all of them do they turn their heads and looks at them.

“Hey everyone!” Leigh-Anne yells over the loud noise of the bar. “This is my friend, Jade. Be nice to her. I like this one.”

All of her friends smile at Jade, a couple of them even wave. The booth is filled to the brim with people, but some of them scoot over to make enough room for Leigh-Anne. Leigh-Anne sits, beckoning Jade over. Once Jade is standing next to Leigh-Anne, Leigh-Anne grabs her hand and pulls her down onto her lap. Jade looks down, embarrassed, but makes no move to get off.

“Leigh-Anne has been talking non-stop about you,” someone, a girl with shoulder-length light brown hair says.

“All good things I hope,” Jade jokes. Being around all these strangers makes her feel uncomfortable, but with Leigh-Anne’s arm wrapped tightly around her waist, Jade doesn’t really care.

The girl smiles, then stretches her hand out across the table. “Of course. I don’t think she could think of a single bad thing to say about you if she tried.” She winks at Leigh-Anne. “Anyway, I’m Ally. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Jade shakes her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Although, I can’t say that Leigh-Anne has told me much about you.” Jade glances back at Leigh-Anne, who’s watching her with a fond smile.

“Yeah I wonder why,” Ally laughs. “I have a feeling you two don’t do a lot of talking when you’re together.”

Jade bites her lip as her cheeks heat up. “Actually, we haven’t—”

“That’s not—” Leigh-Anne says at the same time. They both break off when they notice the other laughing. When they look at each other they burst into giggles.

“I was just teasing,” Ally says, eyeing them curiously. “But now I’m not so sure if I believe that.”

“Jade!” Leigh-Anne blurts suddenly. “Do you want to come with me to get something to drink?”

Jade nods and gets off of Leigh-Anne’s lap. Leigh-Anne grabs her hand and pulls her away from the booth and to the bar. They have to wait a while for a bartender’s attention and while they do, Leigh-Anne leans back against the bar.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

Jade raises an eyebrow. “Sorry for what?”

“I should’ve told you my friends were going to be here,” Leigh-Anne says. “You could have invited your own friends to come. I know that probably would have made you more comfortable.”

Jade shrugs. “It’s okay. I get to be here with you, so I don’t really mind all that much.”

The smile that Jade gets in return is blinding.

They order their drinks, but instead of returning to the booth to drink them, Leigh-Anne insists that they stay at the bar to drink them.

“I just don’t really want to be around other people right now,” Leigh-Anne says softly as an explanation.

They whisper into each other’s ears about everything and nothing. Jade complains about her test in her political science class and what a pain in the ass her professors are. Leigh-Anne tells her about a complicated move on the pole that she’s trying to learn and some new songs that she wants to try out. They giggle into each other’s necks, Leigh-Anne slides an arm around Jade’s waist, Jade plays with the natural curls of Leigh-Anne’s hair.

When they finish their drinks Leigh-Anne whispers, “Dance with me,” her breath hot against Jade’s ear.

Jade shivers and nods, letting Leigh-Anne pull her out onto the dance floor. Leigh-Anne shakes Jade’s hands, doing a dance that’s nothing like the dances they’ve been doing for the past three days. But Jade is enjoying it just as much.

_Now if we’re talking body… You got a perfect one…_

Jade laughs as Leigh-Anne twirls her around and then pulls her in close. She wraps her arms loosely around Jade’s waist as she spins Jade around. Jade puts her hands on Leigh-Anne’s shoulders to keep herself steady and buries her face in Leigh-Anne’s collarbone.

She might love dancing like this with Leigh-Anne even more than when they dance for their routine. She loves how carefree they are when it’s like this. She loves just letting go and dancing for no one except herself.

_If you love me right… We fuck for life…_

Leigh-Anne sings the words into Jade’s ear, low and sultry. Jade looks up at her. Leigh-Anne rests her forehead against Jade’s, still whispering the words of the song. Their noses brush and Jade wrinkles her nose at how it tickles.

“We should get out of here,” Leigh-Anne says. “Go back to my place?”

Jade wants to say yes so badly. But of course, life has a funny way of being incredibly shitty and never working out for her. Because just as she’s about to say yes, she suddenly remembers that she has a test tomorrow morning. And she’s barely studied for it.

_Day drunk into the night… Wanna keep you here…_

Jade groans and drops her head back onto Leigh-Anne’s chest. “I can’t. I’ve got a test first thing tomorrow. I should go home and study.”

When Jade looks back up at Leigh-Anne, she’s pouting. “But you just got here,” she whines.

Jade giggles, pressing her forehead against Leigh-Anne’s. “I’m sorry. I wish I could stay.”

Leigh-Anne brings a hand to the back of Jade’s neck, slowly guiding their faces closer. Leigh-Anne’s lips brush Jade’s as she says, “I understand. But after you ace that test—which I _know_ you will—let’s go out and celebrate. Just me and you.”

Jade nods, and then there’s a moment where everything is frozen, Leigh-Anne is concentrating on Jade’s lips, and Jade swears that she’s going to kiss her. But then Leigh-Anne is moving backward, giving her a shy smile, saying, “I’ll see you later, Jade. Good luck on your test.”

“Thanks,” Jade says, swallowing the lump in her throat as she watches Leigh-Anne rejoin her friends.

***

The moment the grades for her political science test are posted online Jade calls Leigh-Anne. She bites her lip to contain the squeal of delight she wants to emit so that she doesn’t give away her excitement to Leigh-Anne.

“ _Hey Jade,_ ” Leigh-Anne says, sounding chipper. “ _What’s up?_ ”

Jade takes a deep breath before saying in as upset a voice as she can muster, “I failed it.”

“ _Oh Jade,_ ” Leigh-Anne says sympathetically.

“It’s just,” Jade makes a choked sound like she’s sobbing, “it’s my most important class, and I studied so hard and—”

“ _You don’t have to talk about it,_ ” Leigh-Anne says. Jade almost wishes that she was telling the truth because Leigh-Anne is being so sweet about it. “ _You can come over to mine. We can have ice cream, watch a movie, have a good cry—_ ”

Jade can’t help it, she starts laughing. She can’t believe Leigh-Anne would do that for her if she had failed her test. She is just way too nice to Jade, and now Jade feels kind of bad about lying to her. So she laughs to let Leigh-Anne know that it’s all okay.

“ _You’re messing with me_ ,” Leigh-Anne says, and Jade can practically hear the smile in her voice. “ _So I take it you actually passed?_ ”

Jade nods, then remembers that Leigh-Anne can’t see her. “Yeah, I got an A minus. Which is amazing considering _someone_ distracted me from studying and made me go out with her the night before.”

Leigh-Anne makes an indignant noise. “ _You distracted yourself. You didn’t have to text me or come out with me that night._ ”

Jade hums. “But I wanted to.”

There’s a moment of silence before Leigh-Anne responds. “ _Well, it’s Friday, which is usually a work night for me. But since we haven’t finished our routine I might be able to convince Georgia to give me the night off. And then I can take you out for dinner?_ ”

Jade’s breath gets caught in her throat. It almost sounds like it’s supposed to be a date. When they had talked about it at the bar it was just supposed to be a celebration for Jade passing her test. Wasn’t it?

“Dinner?” Jade repeats.

“ _It doesn’t have to mean anything,_ ” Leigh-Anne says quickly. And for some reason that makes Jade’s heart fall even lower. “ _You know, it’s just to celebrate passing your test. Between friends. It doesn’t have to mean anything._ ”

“Do you want it to?” Jade finds herself saying.

“ _Of course,_ ” Leigh-Anne says without any hesitancy whatsoever. “ _I thought that much was obvious. But I don’t want to force you into anything. I only want it to mean something if you want it to mean something._ ”

And that might be why Jade lo—likes Leigh-Anne so much. She cares so much about Jade’s feelings, never wanting to put her out of her way or make her feel uncomfortable. It’s been like that from the start and so Jade feels confident in her answer when she says, “I do want it to mean something.”

“ _So it’s a date?_ ” Leigh-Anne asks.

“It’s a date,” Jade answers.

“ _Wear something nice,_ ” Leigh-Anne says. “ _I’ve got big plan for tonight._ ”

“I can’t wait.”

***

Jade has nothing to wear. Sure, she’s got a closet filled to the brim with clothes, but she has _absolutely nothing to wear_. She thinks she’s driving Liam more and more insane with every “no” she gives.

“Jade, just pick something!” Liam groans, falling backwards onto the bed. “She sees you every day. I’m sure she won’t care about what you look like.”

“It’s not about that!” Jade says. “Well, it’s a little bit about that, but it’s about the memories, you know? I don’t want to look back on my first date with her and think, ‘Why the fuck did I wear _that_?’ And just because she sees me every day wearing t-shirts and sweatpants doesn’t mean that’s what I want to wear to our date. I want to show her how much effort I put into this because it shows that I care. It’s, like, a metaphor for how much effort I’ll put into our relationship.”

Liam sits up and blinks. “A metaphor.”

“Shut up,” Jade says as she sifts through her clothes. “Like you weren’t freaking out before your first date with Zayn.”

Liam blushes, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. “Of course I was freaking out. But I had the decency to do it privately at least. I didn’t invite someone over to watch it happen.”

Jade pouts. “You’re my best friend. You’re supposed to support me.”

“Ugh, fine,” Liam says. He stands up and starts searching through the mountain of clothes on her bed. “What about this dress?”

Jade eyes it. It’s light pink with a full skirt and a sweetheart neckline. It’s cute, but it’s not really _impressive_. “Not really first date material. More like third or fourth date, when I’ve stopped trying to impress her with my stunning outfits.”

“Oh, I see,” Liam says as he throws the dress across the room. “After the third or fourth date you’ve stopped trying to impress her. I see you don’t want to put that much effort into your relationship after all.”

Jade rolls her eyes. She digging really deep into her closet now, hoping that she’ll find the Narnia of good clothes. Her eyes land on a white shirt that she doesn’t remember buying. She holds it up to her chest.

“What about this shirt?” she asks Liam.

Liam tilts his head as he assesses her. “I can’t really tell just by you holding it up like that. Put it on.”

Jade takes her shirt off right in front of him (they’ve seen each other change a million times before, it’s nothing new) and pulls the white shirt on. It’s tight, which tells her that she probably bought it a while ago.

Liam whistles. “Damn. That looks amazing.”

Jade looks at herself in the mirror. It might be tight, but it’s tight in all the right places. The sleeves hang off to the sides, baring her shoulders and collarbones. It’s a crop top, and the edge comes to rest just beneath her breasts. Liam was right, she does look amazing.

“Now we just need to find the perfect bottoms,” Liam says.

Jade groans, annoyed that her small victory has been ruined.

“Actually,” Liam says as he digs through the clothes mountain, “I think I saw the perfect—Ah! Here they are.”

He throws her a pair of black leather pants that she had worn for a Halloween party last year when she had gone as a cat. She pulls them on, and they’re surprisingly not as tight as the shirt. The waistline is low, so her stomach is entirely bare, and she’s a little embarrassed to be showing off so much skin. What if they were going to a classy place?

“You look fucking hot,” Liam says as he stares at her. “Leigh-Anne won’t be able to keep her hands off of you.”

“Hopefully she waits until after I’ve had something to eat.” Jade winks at Liam, and he makes a disgusted noise at her innuendo.

She heads into the bathroom to do her makeup and straighten her hair. Well, she does her makeup as Liam straightens her hair. (That was the other reason she had invited him over. While Jade can straighten her hair pretty well, she prefers having others do it because they can reach the back. And Liam used to straighten his hair every day in high school so Jade is pretty confident in his abilities. Not to mention, it really speeds things up.)

Jade is just putting the finishing touches on her light pink lipstick when they hear a knock on the door.

“Oh my god, I’m so not ready,” Jade says.

“You _are_ ,” Liam insists. “You look incredible, babe. But I can distract her while you put on the finishing touches. It’ll give me a chance to do my, ‘Hurt her, you die,’ speech.”

Jade laughs as she pushes him out of the doorway. She hears the door open and Liam greeting Leigh-Anne with a low whistle. Jade bites her lip, knowing that Leigh-Anne probably looks stunning. As usual.

She does the finishing touches, like Liam said, before darting around her room to see if she has everything. She quadruple checks just to make sure (totally not because she’s nervous) before she finally ventures out into the living room where Leigh-Anne is waiting.

“—you won’t have her to answer to,” Liam is saying when Jade comes out, “you’ll have me.”

But Leigh-Anne isn’t paying attention to him anymore. Her eyes are sliding down Jade’s body slowly in a ravenous way. Jade thinks she does the same thing to Leigh-Anne.

Leigh-Anne’s outfit is a perfect match to Jade’s. It’s all black, from her sleeveless black dress that ends high on her thighs, to the lace black tights and the black high-heeled boots. Where Jade had gone for lightly shaded makeup, Leigh-Anne’s is dark and sultry. Jade’s hair is straightened and tame, and Leigh-Anne has let her curls fly out in her signature afro.

“Holy fuck,” Leigh-Anne finally manages to say.

Jade literally can’t say anything.

They stare at each other for a few moments, completely in awe of how gorgeous the other looks and how they can’t believe that they’re actually about to go on a date with each other. Liam is finally the one to break the silence, and Jade is grateful because she’s pretty sure they would’ve been there the whole night if Liam hadn’t.

“Have her home by ten,” Liam jokes.

“In the morning?” Leigh-Anne says, smirking.

Liam gives her his best stern look. Which isn’t that great at all. “I’m serious.”

“So am I,” Leigh-Anne says. She takes Jade’s hand and squeezes it. She’s looking at Jade (she hasn’t taken her eyes off of her at all, actually) when she says, “I’ll take good care of her.”

Jade doesn’t hear Liam’s response because she whispers, “I know you will.” Leigh-Anne smiles and her eyes shine.

***

Jade feels like a princess with the way Leigh-Anne has been treating her all night. First, she opens Jade’s door for her when they get into the car, and then keeps her hand in Jade’s the whole ride to the restaurant. The restaurant Leigh-Anne takes her to is so nice that there’s valet parking.

_Valet parking_.

Leigh-Anne wraps an arm around Jade’s waist as she escorts her into the restaurant. Jade feels a little out of sorts in a place that’s so nice that the waiters pull out the chairs for you, but Leigh-Anne is constantly there, letting her know that it’s okay.

Leigh-Anne and Jade keep their interlocked hands on top of the table as they talk. Jade loves the way Leigh-Anne looks at her like she leads the most fascinating life when really Jade is talking about the most mundane of things.

Leigh-Anne starts cracking up after she orders the wine. At Jade’s confused (but amused) look, she explains, “I feel like one of those old white couples whose marriage is falling apart. But they go to fucking fancy restaurants and order expensive wine to convince themselves that it’s all okay.”

Jade laughs as she takes a sip of the wine. “Oh George, this wine really is exquisite,” she says in a refined accent.

Leigh-Anne giggles, taking a sip of her own wine. “Ah yes, I agree completely, Katherine. Although, it’s a little sweet for my taste. I prefer my wine to be as dry as your pussy when we fuck at night.”

Jade literally spits her wine out onto the table. The people sitting at the tables near them glare at her ill-mannered behavior as a waiter comes over to clean up the table. Leigh-Anne watches the entire scene with a smirk on her face.

When the waiter finishes cleaning up and leaves, Jade leans over the table and says in a low voice, “Oh, well it’s not like I enjoy being fucked by that pencil you call a dick, George.”

Leigh-Anne grins and leans back against her chair. “Please, Katherine, let’s not do this here. I just wanted to have a nice night out and as usual, you’re turning into the Wicked Witch of the West.”

Jade laughs loudly, drawing the attention of the nearby tables once again. “Oh, because you’re gumdrops and rainbows all the time, aren’t you, George?”

“I have real things to get angry about like politics and work,” Leigh-Anne says. “Because, you know, those are men’s things, of course.”

“Of course,” Jade laughs.

“You get emotional over _Downton Abbey_ ,” Leigh-Anne continues. “I’m sorry if I find that aggravating when I have more important things to think about. Like why my Viagra pills can’t make my penis any bigger.”

Jade snorts at the way everyone looks aghast at their conversation. “Do you know why I watch _Downton Abbey_ , George? Do you?”

“Please enlighten me,” Leigh-Anne says in a bored voice, but her eyes twinkle at how much she’s enjoying this. “It’s not like I haven’t heard it all before.”

“I watch _Downton Abbey_ to forget that you’re fucking your secretary behind my back!” Jade yells, and the restaurant goes completely silent. She thinks she spots a couple trying not to laugh behind their napkins.

A waiter rushes over to their table as they burst into laughter. “I’m going to have to ask you ladies to leave if you can’t behave yourselves.”

“We’re terribly sorry,” Leigh-Anne says. “We’re just having a little spat.”

“Because marriage is so awful, right?” Jade jokes, laughing sarcastically.

The waiter eyes them suspiciously. “Are you sure you can behave yourselves?”

Leigh-Anne scoffs. “Of course, we can, we’re not children.”

“Sure you’re not,” the waiter says, giving them a glare before leaving them alone.

Once he’s gone Leigh-Anne and Jade burst into giggles. Jade laughs until her stomach starts hurting and there are tears in her eyes. Leigh-Anne gasps, “I thought they were going to kick us out for sure.”

“It would’ve made for a memorable date,” Jade points out.

“Oh god,” Leigh-Anne wails. “I do not want to look back on my first date with you and remember being kicked out of a fancy restaurant for being too immature.”

Jade tilts her lips up as she watches Leigh-Anne carefully. Now that everything calms down she looks incredibly embarrassed over the whole affair. It’s kind of cute actually. “How do you want to remember this date then?” Jade asks.

“Well,” Leigh-Anne says, putting her chin her hand as she gazes at Jade from across the table, “I want to remember how impressed you were when I took you out to this fancy French restaurant. I want to remember the feeling of your hand pressed against mine as we walked under the moonlight. I want to remember how I held you as we watched the stars together. And then I want to remember the sounds you made as I made love to you. That’s how I want to remember tonight.”

Jade stares at her for a second before breaking into nervous laughter. “That’s…so cheesy.”

Leigh-Anne shrugs, not offended. “What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic. And I just want to create the perfect date for you. Because you don’t deserve anything less than perfection.”

“Leigh, I appreciate all of this, I really do,” Jade says. “But…this isn’t really _us_. Like, I loved just going to McDonald’s and eating on the stage with you. We don’t need to watch the stars and walk under the moonlight for a perfect night, either. I would love just watching Netflix with you while eating chips. And frankly, making love is overrated.” She leans across the table as she whispers, “I want to see how you move when you’re not onstage.”

Leigh-Anne swallows thickly and Jade licks her lips as she eyes Leigh-Anne’s neck. “I would take you right here and now,” Leigh-Anne says lowly. “But I’m still a hopeless romantic. So we are going to stay here and have a nice meal before fucking. Because that’s just how I roll.”

Jade groans as she slumps back into her seat. Thinking about fucking Leigh-Anne has gotten her all worked up, and now nothing is going to come from it. Especially not Jade. But she has to admit, she loves how seriously Leigh-Anne is taking this date, and she admires how much effort she’s trying to put into making it perfect. She doesn’t care what Liam says, it is a good metaphor for their relationship.

The meal is amazing, though. Jade is actually really glad that she hadn’t convinced Leigh-Anne to take her home right then and there. She moans when she takes the first bite, and Leigh-Anne chokes on her own food.

When the bill arrives, Leigh-Anne refuses to let Jade see it. She assumes it’s all kinds of expensive and glares at Leigh-Anne as she takes out her credit card. She hates making Leigh-Anne pay so much for her meal, no matter how much Leigh-Anne said she makes a year.

Leigh-Anne’s plan to walk hand in hand under the moonlight is ruined by two things. The first is that it’s apparently a new moon tonight. The second is that it’s down pouring.

“Oh shit!” Leigh-Anne yells as she pulls Jade back underneath the canopy of the restaurant while they wait for their car. “There goes my plan for a romantic walk in the park.”

“No,” Jade says. “Let’s do it.”

“You want to walk in the park in this kind of weather?” Leigh-Anne says incredulously. “We’ll get soaked! You’ll ruin your clothes!”

Jade shakes her head, laughing. “You’ve seen _The Notebook_ right?” Leigh-Anne nods. “Exactly.”

Leigh-Anne grins as she grabs Jade’s hand and pulls her into the car. When they get to the park they both run out of the car and spin around and dance on the grass. Jade almost slips on the wet grass, and Leigh-Anne rushes to catch her in her arms. But Leigh-Anne ends up slipping and then they’re lying on the ground.

“Shit, there’s no way I’m ever getting these stains out of this shirt,” Jade pouts looking down at herself.

“This was your idea!” Leigh-Anne laughs. “Don’t complain.”

Jade hoists her back up and they continue prancing around in the rain. They hold hands as they spin around, careful not to slip and fall again. Leigh-Anne pulls Jade in close and holds tightly against her. She pushes the wet strands of Jade’s hair off of her cheeks and lips. Her thumb lingers on her bottom lip. She pulls it down and then bites her lip.

“What are you waiting for?” Jade whispers, the rain almost drowning out the softness of her words.

Leigh-Anne doesn’t wait one more second before catching Jade’s lips in her own. Jade clutches as Leigh-Anne’s waist as she gets lost in the feeling of Leigh-Anne’s lips on hers. They’re so wet that they slide easily over Jade’s mouth. Jade easily lets Leigh-Anne’s tongue inside her mouth when she slides it along her lips.

Leigh-Anne’s tongue brushes along Jade’s and licks along the roof of her mouth. Jade feels a tingle at the feel of Leigh-Anne’s tongue running along her own. Leigh-Anne brings her hands around Jade’s neck, grasping desperately at it as she moans into Jade’s mouth. Jade shivers at the vibrations she feels from Leigh-Anne’s moan.

“Shit, you’re cold,” Leigh-Anne says, rubbing her hands over Jade’s shoulders. “We should get inside.”

“I’m not shivering because I’m cold,” Jade says, giving her a pointed look.

“Oh,” Leigh-Anne says, then grins. “Then we should get you inside anyway.”

Jade shivers again.

***

Jade pants into Leigh-Anne’s mouth as they stumble their way into Leigh-Anne’s apartment. Leigh-Anne holds onto the back of Jade’s neck as she pushes Jade back through the hallway and into her bedroom. Meanwhile, Jade is struggling to take off their clothes, but Leigh-Anne refuses to stop kissing her.

They finally make it to the bedroom and Leigh-Anne shoves Jade down onto the bed. Jade grabs at Leigh-Anne’s hands, pulling her on top of her and then continues kissing her fiercely. Leigh-Anne’s hands wander around her stomach until finally they push themselves underneath her shirt and cup her breasts. Jade gasps and Leigh-Anne swallows the noise.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jade says suddenly, sitting up. “Our clothes are wet and dirty.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s wet and dirty,” Leigh-Anne comments, sneaking a hand down into Jade’s crotch.

“No,” Jade insists, pushing Leigh-Anne’s hand away. “We’ll ruin your sheets.”

Leigh-Anne sighs and pulls Jade onto her lap so that Jade is straddling her. “We’re going to ruin them anyway. But if you insist…” Then suddenly she stands up, and Jade’s legs tighten like a vice around Leigh-Anne’s waist as she carries her across the room.

Slamming Jade into the wall, Leigh-Anne kiss her messily. She licks across her lips, down her jaw and neck. Jade grasps desperately at Leigh-Anne’s hair as she groans into her neck. Leigh-Anne suddenly drops her, but keeps her pressed up against the wall.

Leigh-Anne’s hands tug Jade’s shirt up and over her head quickly, and she throws it somewhere across the room. She pulls Jade back in with one hand cupping the back of her neck and one arm wrapped around her back and kisses her.

Jade lets Leigh-Anne suck on her neck as she pulls down Leigh-Anne’s dress and tights. She sighs as Leigh-Anne licks over the mark she’s made and runs her hands over the smooth skin of Leigh-Anne’s back. Leigh-Anne kisses down her neck, her collarbone, and then she’s on her knees.

Jade lets out a little squeak as Leigh-Anne licks around her belly button while unbuttoning her pants. Jade pants at the vibrations on her stomach as Leigh-Anne mutters against it, “You look so sexy in these pants, Jade. I never thought I’d see you wear anything like this.” She pulls down Jade’s pants and starts mouthing at her thigh.

“They were…” Jade gasps, “for a Halloween…costume. I was… _oh god_ …a cat.”

Leigh-Anne raises an eyebrow up at her before glancing down again. “How apt,” she says before pulling Jade’s panties down ever so slowly.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Jade sighs at the first touch of Leigh-Anne’s tongue on her labia. She leans her head back against the wall as Leigh-Anne’s tongue dips even further into Jade’s cunt until it’s licking against the clit. Jade moans as heat pools in her stomach and she feels butterflies in her stomach.

Leigh-Anne grips Jade’s thighs for leverage as she pushes her head further in between Jade’s thighs. Leigh-Anne’s hair tickles where it brushes against Jade’s stomach, and she starts to giggle. But then Leigh-Anne swirls her tongue around the clit and Jade’s giggle turns into a sharp inhale.

“Oh shit,” she huffs. “Do that…tongue…again. Fuck, Leigh.”

Leigh-Anne continues swirling her tongue around Jade’s clit, pushing it back and then pulling it forward. It drives Jade mad with the sensation of Leigh-Anne controlling how to make Jade feel. And Jade figures that Leigh-Anne loves the way Jade is so helpless to her touch, with the way she hums against her labia. The vibrations run through Jade’s entire body and she shivers.

She looks down and notices that Leigh-Anne has a hand in her underwear, moving up and down. And, _shit_ , watching Leigh-Anne finger herself while eating out Jade should not be that hot. But then her stomach coils, and she feels on the edge of her orgasm. But she doesn’t want this to be over yet.

“Leigh, come up here,” she pants.

Leigh-Anne stands up, looking confused until Jade kisses her. Jade opens her mouth and sucks on Leigh-Anne’s tongue, on the taste of herself on Leigh-Anne’s tongue. Leigh-Anne laughs and pulls back.

“Bed?” she asks.

Jade nods and continues kissing Leigh-Anne until the backs of Leigh-Anne’s knees hit the bed. Leigh-Anne sits down on the bed and lets Jade straddle her, all without breaking the kiss. Leigh-Anne runs her hands up Jade’s back, and then unhooks her bra. Jade leans far enough away from Leigh-Anne for her to take it off and throw it on the floor.

Leigh-Anne dips her head in the space between them and licks at Jade’s breasts. Jade leans her head back and braces her hands on Leigh-Anne’s shoulders. Leigh-Anne catches a nipple in her mouth, and Jade’s head snaps up.

As Leigh-Anne reaches up to cup Jade’s breasts, Jade starts grinding down on her. Leigh-Anne licks Jade’s nipple, rolling it around with her tongue, to the rhythm of Jade’s hips. Jade stutters for a moment when Leigh-Anne cups Jade’s breasts, and Leigh-Anne uses it to her advantage.

Jade’s breath is knocked out of her when Leigh-Anne flips her over. Jade keeps her legs twined around Leigh-Anne’s waist as Leigh-Anne kisses at her neck.

“God, I can’t believe this,” she hears Leigh-Anne murmur against her neck.

Jade combs a hand through Leigh-Anne’s hair. “Hmm?”

Leigh-Anne shakes her head before moving so that she’s looking at Jade. “It’s nothing. I just—fuck. I want to fuck you so badly right now.”

Jade smiles and presses a small, chaste kiss to Leigh-Anne’s lips. So different from what they’ve been doing. “Nothing’s stopping you, babe. Except maybe your underwear.”

Leigh-Anne grins and lets Jade unhook her bra and pull it off. Jade uses the legs wrapped around Leigh-Anne’s waist to push her underwear down her legs. Leigh-Anne kicks the offending material off and then leans down to kiss Jade again.

Leigh-Anne’s skin glides smoothly against Jade’s skin, thanks to the rain that’s made it wet. Leigh-Anne grinds up against Jade, and even though their naked, their cunts rubbing against each other, it’s still not enough.

Jade reaches a hand down in between them before she finds Leigh-Anne’s cunt. She feels rather than hears Leigh-Anne’s gasp of surprise as she parts the labia and then brushes the clit. She flicks at it gently, testing to see how sensitive Leigh-Anne is.

“Harder,” Leigh-Anne groans against Jade’s mouth as she starts thrusting her hips up even harder and faster.

Jade nods and rubs her finger along the clit. Leigh-Anne sighs as she keeps thrusting up, forcing Jade’s finger deeper inside of her. Jade slides her finger against the clit in time to Leigh-Anne’s thrusts.

She adds a finger, and scissors Leigh-Anne until she’s panting for more. Jade pushes at the tightness of Leigh-Anne’s cunt, opening her up until she’s comfortable enough for a third finger.

Leigh-Anne humps Jade helplessly once she’s got three fingers within her. At this point, both Leigh-Anne and Jade are so lost in it that they can’t kiss anymore. Their mouths are smashed together as they pant and groan and moan.

Leigh-Anne comes the second Jade crooks all the fingers around the clit. She mutters “ _fuck_ ” continuously into Jade’s skin. Jade removes two fingers and pumps one finger until Leigh-Anne has finished her orgasm.

Jade had been planning on letting her rest after that, thinking they were done now that Leigh-Anne has come, but apparently Leigh-Anne isn’t finished until Jade is.

Leigh-Anne grabs Jade’s arms and pins them down before she starts grinding against Jade again. She doesn’t start out slow this time, she gets right into it. Jade thrusts up, arching her back off the bed, groaning at the feel of Leigh-Anne cunt rubbing against her own. Jade reaches a finger inside of herself, desperately kneading her clit as Leigh-Anne continues riding her.

Jade comes with a cry, clutching the sheets with a fist. She arches her back even farther off the bed, squeezing her eyes shut as Leigh-Anne fucks against her until she’s done.

Once Jade finishes with a sigh, Leigh-Anne flops down beside her and Jade straightens her legs. They pant, hands on their chests as they come down from their high.

“God, waiting until after dinner was so worth it,” Jade says once she’s caught her breath again.

“I know I’m amazing, aren’t I?” Leigh-Anne says.

Jade giggles and rolls on top of her. She wants to make a quip about how _she’s_ the amazing one here, not Leigh-Anne, but staring at Leigh-Anne’s face, and her droopy eyes, and her lazy smile just for Jade, she can’t think of anything to say except, “Yeah. You are.”

Leigh-Anne hums as she strokes Jade’s hair back behind her ear. “I’m tired but I don’t want to stop staring at you.”

Jade laughs so hard that she ends up rolling off of Leigh-Anne. “You’re so fucking cheesy,” she says.

Leigh-Anne lies on her side and stares at Jade. “Nope. I’m romantic.”

Jade lies on her side and wraps an arm around Leigh-Anne’s waist and pulls her in so that they’re lying chest to chest. As Leigh-Anne brings her arms around Jade’s back, Jade rests her head against Leigh-Anne’s chest. Leigh-Anne continues combing her hair with her fingers.

“Well, Ms. Romantic,” Jade says, breaking off briefly to yawn. “If you don’t want to stop staring at me, then dream of me.”

As Jade snuggles further into Leigh-Anne’s chest for warmth, lulled by Leigh-Anne’s humming and her hand in her hair, she thinks she hears Leigh-Anne whisper, “I always do.”

She doesn’t think too much about it because soon after, she’s fast asleep.

***

There’s a warm, naked body wrapped around Jade when she wakes up. She grins into Leigh-Anne’s stomach, remembering the events of last night. She glides her fingers along Leigh-Anne’s bare stomach, humming the song they’re using for their dance.

“What time’s it?” Leigh-Anne mumbles, arching her back as she stretches.

Jade squeezes her tighter. “Don’t care. Let’s just stay in bed all day, ‘kay?”

Leigh-Anne laughs, and Jade feels the vibrations in her head. She feels a hand in her hair and nudges up into it like a cat. “I can’t. I’ve got to perform tonight. We should also practice our routine a little more before tomorrow night.”

Jade turns her head so that she’s resting her chin on Leigh-Anne’s stomach as she looks up at her. “We could practice it in bed. Without any clothes.

Leigh-Anne smiles. “Mmm… Tempting. But it would be a little hard to focus I think.”

Jade grins. She sits up then, and Leigh-Anne pouts at her, motioning for her to come back and cuddle. Jade giggles as she throws a leg over Leigh-Anne’s waist and grinds down against her. Leigh-Anne moans and grabs her back.

“Do you want me to make it a little harder for you to focus?” Jade offers as she leans in and brushes her lips against Leigh-Anne’s.

“I’d rather you not,” Leigh-Anne mutters, poking Jade’s nose and pushing her back. “I’m going to go shower and then we’ll go rehearse okay.”

As Leigh-Anne makes her way into the bathroom Jade calls out, “What’s the point of showering if you’re just going to get all hot and sweaty anyway?”

Leigh-Anne flips her off.

Jade hears the shower start running and decides to check her phone before she goes about getting dressed. She feels like the young lover of a married woman as she lounges around naked in Leigh-Anne’s sheets. The idea kind of turns her on, actually.

She looks through her texts, and sees that she has a ton from Liam. Most of them are from around ten, demanding to know where she is and that he is going to ground her when she gets home. By the time she gets to the messages from midnight they’re more along the lines of, “ _Get it Jade!_ _:)_ ” Jade rolls her eyes and dials Liam.

“ _Oh, look who’s up bright and early after their night of fun_ ,” Liam says when he picks up.

Jade can’t contain her grin and is so glad that Liam isn’t here to see it. “Haha. Sorry I didn’t come home last night. Leigh and I got a bit…distracted.”

“ _Oh I’m sure you did,_ ” Liam quips, and Jade just knows that if he was here right now he’d be winking at her as well. “ _But you had a good night?_ ”

“Yeah,” Jade says, her grin growing even wider. “Leigh-Anne is…god, she’s so amazing. She was trying so hard to make the night perfect, and even though everything didn’t go perfectly, it was perfect. Just because I was with Leigh and she’s perfect. You know?”

Liam laughs. “ _You are so gone for her._ ”

“I am not _gone_ for her,” Jade denies. “But—I like her. A lot.”

“ _I’m glad you had a nice night with her though,_ ” Liam says in a more serious tone. “ _Because it would be a real drag if my boyfriend’s best friend had been a complete dick to my best friend on their first date._ ”

“Wait,” Jade says, replaying what Liam had just said in her mind. “Did you say boyfriend? Are you and Zayn official?”

“ _Yeah,_ ” Liam sighs, a smile in his voice. “ _He asked me last night. And then he fucked me, but it was so much better than all the other times because we’re boyfriends!_ ”

“Yeah, that was way too much information,” Jade laughs. She hears a noise coming from the bathroom then, something that sounds like singing. “Uh, I’m going to let you go now. I have to get ready for rehearsal. Have fun with your boyfriend.”

“ _And you have fun with your Leigh-Anne_ ,” Liam says before hanging up.

Jade drops her phone onto the bed and makes her way to the bathroom. The door is open and Leigh-Anne’s voice is drifting out into the hallway.

_I’ll never be your beast of burden…_

Jade’s feet carry her further into the bathroom until she’s leaning on the wall next the shower, listening to Leigh-Anne’s low and mellifluous voice. Jade bites her lip as Leigh-Anne belts out the words easily and carefree.

Jade starts humming softly, and she likes the way Leigh-Anne’s voice mixes with her soft melody. Where Leigh-Anne’s voice is low yet confident, Jade’s is higher and shyer. It flows easily together, and Jade could listen to this all day.

_Am I hard enough? Am I rough—?_

Leigh-Anne breaks off suddenly and pulls back the shower curtain. She raises her eyebrow at Jade. “How long have you been listening?”

Jade looks down, embarrassed to have been caught. “Only for a little while. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. You just sound so lovely and—”

Before she knows it, Leigh-Anne is grabbing her hand and pulling Jade into the shower with her. Jade laughs as Leigh-Anne shoves her against the wall and kisses her.

Jade’s hand’s glide easily over Leigh-Anne’s wet back as Leigh-Anne parts Jade’s lips with her tongue. She writes the lyrics of the song in Jade’s mouth with her tongue and with her fingers as they travel down Jade’s sides. Jade licks her tongue against Leigh-Anne’s, moaning.

Leigh-Anne pulls away and just holds Jade, her hands on Jade’s hips, Jade’s around her back. With her lips against Jade’s cheek, Leigh-Anne continues singing softly.

_Am I rich enough? I’m not too blind to see…_

Jade dips her head and starts sliding her lips along the column of Leigh-Anne’s throat. She keeps singing the whole time, even as Jade starts bending down, until she’s on her knees. Leigh-Anne’s hands slide into her hair and her words start to get softer.

_Come on baby, make sweet love to me…_

Jade will gladly make sweet love to her. She licks along the labia, using her finger to part them so that she can find the clit. Leigh-Anne stutters a little, but continues singing as if she doesn’t have another girl’s tongue inside her pussy right now. And Jade wants her to fall apart. Wants her to forget her words completely, and all because of Jade.

The only problem is that she’s never done this before. She’s fingered herself and one other girl before, and that’s pretty straight forward. But this? She’s not quite sure what to do. She’s hoping for the best though, and that if she messes up, Leigh-Anne will guide her through it.

She grips Leigh-Anne’s thighs as she licks inside of Leigh-Anne. Leigh-Anne moans the words a little and her hand pulls Jade’s hair. Jade moves her tongue around, exploring until she feels the tip of the clit. She pokes at it, and Leigh-Anne’s knees buckle.

_Come on baby please, please, please…_

She’s not so much singing the words as she is gasping them. Jade glides her tongue along the clit, reveling in the way Leigh-Anne continues to stutter her words. Leigh-Anne’s hand pushes at Jade’s head, silently telling her to go in deeper.

Feeling more confident, Jade wiggles her tongue around the clit, licking at it like an ice cream cone. Leigh-Anne stops singing for a moment as she leans her head back against the wall, panting. Jade thinks she’s won, but then Leigh-Anne continues, louder than before.

_Put me out, with no shoes on my feet…_

Jade licks deeper into her with enthusiasm. Leigh-Anne legs shake and her fingers comb through Jade’s hair roughly. Fueled by how much she’s turning Leigh-Anne on she starts licking harder and faster, playing with the clit as much as possible.

Finally Leigh-Anne can’t take it anymore and she pants, “Oh _god_ , Jade. Don’t stop. Please—don’t stop.”

Jade doesn’t stop. She continues to eat Leigh-Anne out until she cries out and her hand pulls Jade’s hair roughly. Jade laps up Leigh-Anne’s come before standing up and pulling her into a kiss. Jade pushes her tongue into Leigh-Anne’s mouth and Leigh-Anne sucks on it.

“Mmm,” Leigh-Anne says when they break apart. “I taste weird.”

“I kind of like it,” Jade says.

“Weirdo,” Leigh-Anne laughs.

“It’s your come,” Jade points out. “Also, I won.”

Leigh-Anne smiles, kissing her again. “I know you did, babe. What do you want your prize to be?”

Jade runs her hands up and down Leigh-Anne’s back as she thinks. “Don’t know right now. Can I come back to it?”

Leigh-Anne raises an eyebrow. “You mean you don’t want me to eat you out.”

“You did last night,” Jade says. “Besides, I think you’ve distracted me enough for today.”

Leigh-Anne hits her with a loofah.

***

Jade stands in the now familiar spot just offstage as she watches Leigh-Anne dance that Saturday night. They decided that Jade will make her debut on Sunday because it was one of their less popular nights so they could gauge the audience’s interest in Jade and Leigh-Anne’s routine without having to sacrifice a big audience. It also made it much easier on Jade because there would hardly be anyone there in case she messed up at all.

Jesy comes up beside her to watch Leigh-Anne. She’s done for the night, dressed in just a t-shirt and sweatpants. She usually goes home once she’s done, claiming that her boyfriend misses her too much. Jade wonders why Jesy hasn’t gone home right away tonight.

She gets her answer a couple of moments later when Jesy turns away from Leigh-Anne and says to Jade, “Can I ask you something?”

Jade nods, her eyes locked on Leigh-Anne gyrating onstage.

Jesy stays silent for so long that Jade tears her eyes away from Leigh-Anne to look at her. She’s watching Jade carefully, an unreadable look on her face.

“What?” Jade asks.

“You really like her,” Jesy states.

Jade laughs. “Is that what this is about? Is this your, ‘hurt her and die’ speech?”

Jesy cracks a smile, shaking her head. “No. Believe me, if you hurt Leigh-Anne I’m sure that she would be able to take care of herself just fine. No, that’s not what this is about.”

Jade tilts her head to the side. “Then what is this about?”

Jesy chews on her lip, and wraps her arms around her stomach. “Leigh-Anne really likes you, Jade. Like, she’ll call me just to tell me about this cute thing you did at your rehearsal. It’ll be something like ‘she scrunched her nose’ but she’ll spend half an hour describing it to me.”

Jade smiles, looking down at the ground. She had no idea that Leigh-Anne was so smitten over her. “Do you want me to stop doing cute things around her then? So she’ll stop being so annoying?”

Jesy laughs. “I don’t think that’ll help. I think she finds anything that you do cute. I just wanted to let you know how much Leigh-Anne likes you.”

Jade nods, but she’s still confused. “Okay, why?”

Jesy sighs, leaning back against the wall. “I talked to Liam the other day.” At Jade’s look of surprise, Jesy explains, “I was hanging out with Perrie and she invited Zayn over and apparently he brings Liam everywhere with him. But their codependency is not my point. My point is that Liam told me that you weren’t out to your parents yet.”

Jade bites her lip, but doesn’t say anything.

“I don’t know what you and Leigh-Anne are doing,” Jesy continues. “But I just want to let you know that Leigh-Anne has never been this serious about anyone before.”

Jade’s eyes widen. That doesn’t seem right to her. Leigh-Anne seems so experienced compared to her. Both romantically and sexually. “Are you serious?” she says.

Jesy nods. “Leigh-Anne has never really been all that into dating. She likes hook-ups, one-night stands. She loves sex and hates commitment. Which is why I don’t really get why she’s so committed to you. But she’s so fucking happy with you, Jade.”

“I’m happy with her too,” Jade says quietly.

Jesy gives her a little smile before going on. “And I hope that you’re taking this relationship with her just as seriously as she seems to be taking it. But that’s a little hard to do when you’re not out to your parents yet. Like, just because you’re fine with hiding behind closed doors doing whatever with Leigh-Anne, doesn’t mean that Leigh-Anne is.”

“I _hate_ being in the closet, Jesy,” Jade protests. “It fucking sucks. Do you know how hard it is to lie to my fucking mother about why I’m not dating anyone? Even though we have a good relationship with one another, and I don’t think she’s homophobic in any way, I just don’t want to break her heart.”

Jesy furrows her brow. “Break her heart?”

Jade nods, crossing her arms over her chest. “I think she’s always seen me going off and finding the perfect man. Having kids with him and owning a house with a white picket fence and all of that bullshit.”

“But if she really loves you,” Jesy says, “then she’ll understand if you want to do all that stuff with a woman instead of a man. Or none of that stuff. She should love you no matter what.”

“You can’t—” Jade starts to say, but Jesy cuts her off.

“I can’t force you to come out, I know,” Jesy says. “But I want you to consider where you see you and Leigh-Anne in a month. Two months. Six months. A year even. If you’re thinking about this long term, or if you just want to continue fooling around with Leigh-Anne and nothing else. You need to figure that out and let Leigh-Anne know because right now, she is thinking about this long term. And you need to let her know if you’re not.”

“But Jesy,” Jade tries, but Jesy shakes her head and leaves her.

Jade barely pays any attention to the rest of the show. She knows that she should come out to her mother, because Jesy was right. She really likes Leigh-Anne. And she doesn’t know how long she and Leigh-Anne are going to last, but she’s hoping for a long time. But Jesy is right, she can’t just hide one of the biggest parts of her life from her mother.

“Hey you.”

Jade jumps in surprise at the sound of Leigh-Anne’s voice. She hadn’t even realized that her performance was over, that’s how spaced out she was. “Hey Leigh,” she says, grateful for her company. She really doesn’t want to think about any of this anymore. She just wants Leigh-Anne to hold her. And maybe a little more.

Leigh-Anne wraps her arms around Jade’s waist, pulling her in. “Did you enjoy the show?” she asks.

Jade rests her forehead on Leigh-Anne’s shoulder. “I always do,” she lies. Normally it wouldn’t be a lie, but with Jesy’s words ringing in her ears, she can’t honestly say that she enjoyed the show. She looks up at Leigh-Anne just as Leigh-Anne yawns. She laughs, poking Leigh-Anne in the nose. “You should go home. You’re tired.”

Leigh-Anne pouts. “I’m not tired. “ She leans in and skims her lips over Jade’s ear. She nibbles on it before saying, “Though, you could tire me out if you wanted.”

Jade pulls back and frowns at her. She wants to have sex with Leigh-Anne too, but it’s a little hard to think about that after what Jesy said about fooling around with Leigh-Anne behind closed doors. She sighs and says, “We should get some rest. We’ve got an early rehearsal tomorrow.”

Leigh-Anne stares at her for a second, looking slightly confused. “Jade, are you okay?”

_No_ , Jade thinks. “Yes,” Jade says. “I’m just tired.”

Leigh-Anne watches her carefully and Jade tries her best not to give anything away. Finally Leigh-Anne sighs and says, “Okay. Let me go change and then I’ll take you home.”

Jade should feel relieved that Leigh-Anne isn’t questioning her anymore, but she doesn’t. Instead she feels empty. Like this isn’t the way it’s supposed to go. And the worst part is, she knows that it’s all her fault.

***

Jade wakes up the next morning to a loud pounding on her door. She groans, pulling her pillow over her head and trying her best to ignore it. It’s probably just Liam. Once he figures out that Jade isn’t going to answer he’ll just get the key from above the door.

Five minutes later and the pounding has continued and Jade has been unable to fall back asleep. She gets out of bed and walks toward the front door, not caring that she’s just in a large t-shirt and underwear since it’s just Liam.

Except, it isn’t just Liam. Leigh-Anne stands on the other side of the doorway in sweatpants and a tank top with a huge grin on her face.

“Leigh?” Jade says, rubbing her eyes to make sure she’s not still sleeping. Although, if this was a dream she’s sure that she and Leigh-Anne would be naked and in her bed by now. “What’re you doing here?”

Leigh-Anne puts her hands on her hips. “I see someone forgot about her early morning rehearsal. You know, the reason that you made me take you home early last night for?”

“ _Fuck_ ,” Jade swears as she rushes back to her room and starts throwing on her workout clothes. “I completely forgot.”

Leigh-Anne follows her into her room, lounging on the bed. “Clearly,” she snorts. Then she eyes Jade up and down. At this point, Jade is just wearing a sports bra and her underwear from last night, and she flushes beneath Leigh-Anne’s gaze. “If you want to save time you can just wear that if you want. I don’t mind.”

Jade rolls her eyes and finishes getting dressed in record time. She pulls Leigh-Anne off the bed and towards the door. Grabbing her jacket and purse she says, “I’m really sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have been standoffish.”

Leigh-Anne waves a hand. “Jade, it’s okay. I get like that too when I’m tired, so I completely understand.”

  1. Why does Leigh-Anne have to be so perfect and sweet about everything? Maybe if Leigh-Anne had been annoyed with Jade for being so snappy last night Jade would feel less guilty about lying to her. But no, of course Leigh-Anne has to be the perfect fucking girlfriend and Jade is a terrible person.



“Listen, Leigh—“ Jade tries to say when they’re outside and in the car, but then the radio starts up, drowning out Jade’s words.

Leigh-Anne turns down the music. “What was that, babe?”

Jade bites her lip. Maybe now isn’t the best time to talk about this. If Leigh-Anne gets upset with Jade for not being out to her mother and breaks things off with her then it could ruin the chemistry of their routine. Jade should wait until after their performance tonight. Because then at least they’ll feel comfortable enough with the routine that they can just fake the chemistry. Right?

“Nevermind,” Jade says.

Leigh-Anne stares at her for a second before putting a hand on top of Jade’s. “You know that you can tell me anything, Jade. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to force you to tell me everything.”

Jade smiles down at their hands. She should just come right out and tell Leigh-Anne what’s on her mind. Leigh-Anne has been so understanding and calm about everything else, why wouldn’t she about this too?

But then Jade remembers what Jesy had said last night. Jade is the first person that Leigh-Anne has ever felt this serious about…ever. And maybe because of that Leigh-Anne won’t be so understanding when Jade tells her since she’s never had to deal with feelings as serious as this.

And just like that, Jade is back to square one.

She carefully pulls her hand out of Leigh-Anne’s and stares out the window. She notices Leigh-Anne’s reflection staring back at her with a confused and slightly upset look on her face, but Jade doesn’t crack. They spend the rest of the ride in complete and utter silence.

***

Rehearsal is torture. Despite what Jade had thought, _not_ telling Leigh-Anne weakens their chemistry just as much as she thought that telling her would. No matter what they do, Jade feels awkward whenever she grinds up against Leigh-Anne, and Leigh-Anne is unsure of every touch she does to Jade.

They don’t even make it through the entire song before Jade gives up. She hates how Leigh-Anne is giving her sympathetic looks whenever she looks Jade’s way because it means that even when they’re dancing, the most important thing to Leigh-Anne is Jade’s feelings. And Jade absolutely _hates_ that because what has she given Leigh-Anne?

Jade’s breaking point is when Georgia yells, “What happened to you girls? You looked so good together yesterday!”

Jade stomps away with no explanation, grabbing her purse and her jacket before heading straight out the door. She wipes at her eyes with her arm because the last thing she needs are strangers feeling bad for her as she walks home.

“Jade!”

Jade stops in her tracks but refuses to turn around. She can hear Leigh-Anne running behind her, calling Jade’s name despite being out of breath. Jade wraps her arms around herself as she waits for Leigh-Anne to catch up.

Leigh-Anne places a hand on Jade’s shoulder, but doesn’t do anything else for fear of scaring her off. Jade holds her breath, knowing that Leigh-Anne is going to say something sweet to her and make sure she’s okay.

“We should go eat.”

Jade’s head snaps up and she whirls around. It reminds her of the first time they rehearsed together and they had eaten McDonald’s together on the stage. Jade wishes that they could go back to that.

And maybe that’s what Leigh-Anne is trying to do here. Make Jade feel more comfortable in doing something familiar so that she’ll open up about what’s wrong. Or so that she can at least get Jade’s mind off of what’s bothering her so that they can get their chemistry back.

“Okay,” Jade says softly. She keeps her arms crossed as she silently follows Leigh-Anne to her car.

They stay silent except for when they stop at McDonald’s and order their food. Jade picks at her fries, not feeling all that hungry as Leigh-Anne drives back to the club. Except…she drives past the club.

Jade looks back behind them at the club that’s now growing smaller by the second. “Uh, Leigh?”

“Hmm?”

“You passed the club,” Jade says, looking back at her.

Leigh-Anne nods. “I think we just need to get out of there for a little while. It was getting kind of stuffy.” She smiles at Jade and Jade finds herself relaxing.

Leigh-Anne turns up the radio to fill in the silence. She hums along to the song (something that Jade only knows because it’s way overplayed on the radio), tapping her hands on the wheel to the beat.

_Give it to me I’m worth it… Baby I’m worth it…_

Jade notices Leigh-Anne glance at her out of the corner of her eye before she starts belting the words. Jade laughs out loud in surprise and Leigh-Anne smiles. She’s not singing in key at all, she’s more yelling the words than anything.

Jade forces her smile down and stares resolutely out the window. She knows that Leigh-Anne is trying to cheer her up by acting like this, but that’s not going to change the fact that Jade is a terrible person. So she is not going to smile. At all.

_It’s all on you, it’s all on you… It’s all on you, so what you wanna do…_

Leigh-Anne starts dancing. Jade bites her lip as she watches Leigh-Anne grind up against the steering wheel, serenading the car in front of them. She licks her lips and pushes up her breasts as if she’s doing a show.

_Come harder just because… I don’t like it, like it too soft…_

Leigh-Anne sneaks a hand up Jade’s arm, singing the words softer now, just for her. Jade stares at her wide-eyed as Leigh-Anne sings, “ _I like it a little rough_ ,” while grabbing her and pulling her forward so that their faces are inches apart.

That’s when Jade cracks a smile. She tries to look down, but Leigh-Anne keeps her grip on her. Leigh-Anne grins at Jade’s smile and leans in just a bit closer, her lips brushing Jade’s.

_Uh huh, show me what you got ‘cause I don’t wanna waste my time…_

“You’re not a waste of my time, Jade,” Leigh-Anne whispers.

“Leigh, that’s not—” Jade tries to explain, but then someone is honking their horn and asking them to “learn how to fucking drive!”

Jade jerks away from Leigh-Anne. Leigh-Anne sighs and turns her eyes back onto the road. They don’t say anything else to each other until Leigh-Anne is pulling up to the beach.

It’s not very crowded considering it’s November and you’d have to be crazy to want to go to the beach in November. Then again, Leigh-Anne isn’t exactly the sanest person Jade knows.

Leigh-Anne gets out without a word, taking the McDonald’s bag with her. Jade watches from the car as Leigh-Anne walks down to the beach and plants herself down on the sand and starts eating.

Jade sighs and gets out, sitting down next to Leigh-Anne. She fishes for her meal and eats it in silence. They both eat until they’re done, and then Leigh-Anne throws away their garbage before coming back and sitting down next to Jade again.

The wind grows stronger, sending Jade’s hair whipping across Leigh-Anne’s face. Leigh-Anne laughs as she pushes Jade’s hair out of her eyes, only to have it fly back in again. Jade can’t help but smile as she watches Leigh-Anne’s struggle with her hair.

Finally Leigh-Anne takes a ponytail off of her wrist and ties Jade’s hair back with it. “Perfect,” she mutters as she relaxes again.

After that moment, Jade feels like a dam has been lifted, and she’s free to say anything to Leigh-Anne. At this point, it doesn’t matter what she says because it’s not like it can get any worse than this.

She sighs and says, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Leigh-Anne lifts her head up and shrugs. “Then don’t talk about it.”

Jade shifts so that she’s facing Leigh-Anne. “But we should talk about it. Because by keeping this in I’m tearing us apart. I’m ruining our dance. Everything is fucked up and it’s all my fucking fault because I don’t know how to talk about things.”

Leigh-Anne grabs Jade’s hands before Jade can cave in and hide herself. “Jade. Everything it _not_ fucked up. It just seems that way because we’re not talking, but I thought that’s what you wanted. I thought you wanted a little space.”

Jade laughs, shaking her head. “No. I want you around all the fucking time. And that’s the problem. I like you so fucking much Leigh-Anne, and I really am serious about you, but I know that you can’t see that.”

Leigh-Anne furrows her brow. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I be able to see that?”

“Because I’m not out, okay?” Jade blurts. “I mean, all my friends know, but my family doesn’t. And now that you know that you’re going to want to leave me because obviously I don’t take this relationship seriously enough if I can’t even tell my parents about it. So just tell me that you can’t deal with that and leave, okay? Because I can’t handle you acting sweetly towards me anymore if you’re just going to—”

Leigh-Anne catches Jade’s lips in her own. She nibbles at Jade’s lower lip before slipping her tongue inside of her mouth. Jade gets lost in it, forgetting what the hell she was just talking about as she wraps her tongue around Leigh-Anne and wraps her arms around Leigh-Anne’s neck.

Leigh-Anne pulls away, but only slightly. “I’m not going to leave you, Jade. I don’t know if you know this, but you’re the first person I’ve ever been really serious about.”

Jade blushes. “I actually did know that. Jesy told me last night.”

Leigh-Anne nods. “So _that’s_ what you two were talking about.” She sighs and extracts herself from Jade’s arms. She wraps her arms around herself and gazes down at the sand. “Listen. I’ve never been in a serious relationship before, or any relationship besides fucking and ditching. I’m not really sure how this is supposed to go, and I thought that’s why you were mad at me. Because I was doing this all wrong.”

Jade shakes her head, scooting closer. “Absolutely not. If anything, you’re doing way better than anyone else I’ve ever been with.”

Leigh-Anne looks up at her and smiles. “Thanks, Jade. That really—that means a lot. But what I’m trying to say is that we’re both navigating uncharted territory here. But if we’re going to try and get through it, then we need to try together. We need to talk to each other. We need to let each other know what we’re worried and scared about. And I’m willing to do that if you are.”

Jade slips her hand into Leigh-Anne’s and nods. “I am.”

“Good,” Leigh-Anne says. She pecks Jade on the cheek. “So we’re doing this then. We’re going to be in a relationship.”

Jade giggles, leaning her head on Leigh-Anne’s shoulder. She tilts her face up. “Girlfriends?”

Leigh-Anne nods, kissing Jade’s forehead. “Girlfriends.”

Jade hums as Leigh-Anne wraps an arm around Jade’s back and strokes her arm slowly. She’s so glad that she talked to Leigh-Anne finally. She had no idea why she was so nervous about it. No one has ever made her feel so at ease and like she can completely be herself. She can’t believe she almost let that go because of one stupid issue. Speaking of which…

“Listen, Leigh,” Jade says, “about my parents…”

Leigh-Anne shakes her head. “You don’t need to come out to them just because we’re serious. I only want you to do it when you think the timing is right.”

Jade smiles. Now she knows for certain what her decision is going to be. “I’m not doing it because I _have_ to. I’m doing it because I _want_ to. You’re amazing and perfect, Leigh, and I want to share how much I care about you with the world. And if my family disowns me because they don’t see how wonderful you are and how happy you make me, then I don’t need their approval anyway.”

Leigh-Anne laughs and pulls Jade in closer. She leans down and kisses her softly. “I love you, Jade.”

Jade smiles against her lips. She almost says it back. Almost.

The timing just isn’t right for her.

***

Jade watches the clock as it blinks from 4:13 to 4:14. Leigh-Anne snuggles further into her side, snoring softly. Her lips tilt up in a smile and Jade wonders if she’s dreaming about her. It’s a nice thought and it makes Jade smile too.

After their impromptu picnic on the beach Jade and Leigh-Anne had gone back to the club to finish rehearsal. They only had to run through it a couple of times before they had it down perfectly. Georgia had been in awe of how easily they had gotten their chemistry back. Jade was a little in awe as well, but Leigh-Anne had just grinned confidently, as if she had known that it would come back that easily.

Once they were finished with rehearsal they headed back to Leigh-Anne’s apartment to relax before the show tonight. As soon as they sat on the couch Leigh-Anne had fallen asleep, her head resting in Jade’s lap. Meanwhile, Jade has been spending the entire hour anxiously combing through Leigh-Anne’s curls while trying to decide when to call her mother.

But her mother decides for her. Jade’s phone starts buzzing in her pocket, right underneath Leigh-Anne’s head. Leigh-Anne thrashes her head and Jade quickly answers it before she can wake up. She strokes Leigh-Anne’s cheek softly, trying to get her to settle down again.

Once Leigh-Anne is calm, Jade brings the phone up to her ear, knowing who it is without even looking at the caller I.D. “Hello?”

“ _Hi sweetie,_ ” her mother says. “ _I told you to call me! What have you been up to that you can’t call your mother regularly?_ ”

Jade rubs her forehead. “I’m so sorry, Mom. I’ve had a lot on my plate lately and I just kind of forgot.”

Her mother _tsks_. “ _That’s no excuse. Your mother should always be a priority._ ”

Jade smiles. “I thought you always said that school should be a priority.”

“ _After your mother,_ ” she says. “ _I’m just kidding, sweetie. I understand that school is stressful and you don’t always have time to talk to me. But I just want to know what’s going on in your life._ ”

Jade bites her lip, looking down at Leigh-Anne’s soft face below her. “Actually, Mom, I kind of wanted to talk to you about that. I’m, uh… I’m kind of seeing someone.”

Her mother squeals so loudly that Jade has to hold the phone away from her ear until she’s finished. “ _I’m so happy for you, Jade! Tell me all about him! What’s he like? Where does he work? What is he majoring—_ ”

“Well, Mom,” Jade says, laughing nervously, “there’s something you should know about them.”

“ _What?_ ” her mother demands, sounding a little nervous.

“He’s, uh,” Jade starts to say, but then Leigh-Anne stirs, her eyes opening. Jade smiles down at her and laces their fingers together. And then Leigh-Anne grins and suddenly all of Jade’s nerves have disappeared. She can do this. “He’s not a he. I’m dating a girl, Mom.”

Her mother goes silent on the other end, and Leigh-Anne squeezes Jade’s hand. Jade waits for the inevitable shouting, her mother telling her she hates her and never wants to see her again. But it never comes.

“ _Okay_ ,” her mother says. “ _Well, what’s she like?_ ”

Jade blinks and stares down at Leigh-Anne in surprise. Leigh-Anne mouths, “What?” Jade laughs and says to her mother, “You’re okay with it?”

“ _Of course I am,_ ” her mother says. “ _You’re my daughter and I just want you to be happy. And if this girl makes you happy then why should I be upset?_ ”

Jade sighs in relief. “I am so glad you’re okay with this, Mom. Because she really makes me happy.” Leigh-Anne sits up and cards her fingers through Jade’s hair while smiling at her. Jade’s lips tilt up in response. “Really, really happy.”

“ _It’s great that you’ve found someone that makes you happy, Jade,_ ” her mother says, and Jade can practically hear the smile in her voice. “ _Now, when do I get to meet her? Oh! You should invite her here for Christmas, and then she can stay to celebrate your birthday! Then she can meet the whole family!_ ”

Jade laughs in surprise. “Um, maybe we should slow down, Mom. I don’t know if she’s ready for all of that yet.”

“Ready for what?” Leigh-Anne laughs.

Jade puts the phone against her shoulder as her mother rambles on about meeting Leigh-Anne. “She wants you to come down for Christmas and my birthday so you can meet the whole family.”

Leigh-Anne’s eyes widen and she stares at the phone. “Um. Seriously?”

Jade laughs, nodding. “I’ll tell her that you’re not ready for that. It’s okay that you don’t want to. I know that she can be a little overbearing sometimes.”

But then Leigh-Anne is taking the phone out of Jade’s hand and putting it on speakerphone. Jade can’t do anything except watch in astonishment. “Um, Mrs. Thirlwall?” Leigh-Anne says. “This is Leigh-Anne, Jade’s girlfriend.”

Jade doesn’t think she’ll ever get tired of hearing that.

“ _Badwi,_ ” Jade’s mother corrects. “ _But please, call me Norma. How are you, sweetie?_ ”

“I’m good,” Leigh-Anne says, grinning. “About Christmas…”

“ _Yes?_ ”

“I would love to come,” Leigh-Anne says.

“ _Oh, that’s so wonderful!_ ” Jade’s mother exclaims. “ _I am so looking forward to meeting you, dear._ ”

“Me too, Norma,” Leigh-Anne says. “I’m so sorry, but I have to go now. Jade and I have to go to work soon.”

“ _Bye Leigh-Anne, it was so nice to talk to you!_ ” Jade’s mother calls before hanging up.

Jade stares at Leigh-Anne. “You really don’t have to come. My family can be a little out there, and you’re not going to know anyone, and my mom is just insane and she’s going to—”

Leigh-Anne kisses her, effectively cutting her off. “If your mom is anything like you, I’m sure she’s wonderful.” Jade blushes, ducking her head into Leigh-Anne’s shoulder. “Besides, your mom called me ‘sweetie’. I’m practically already part of the family.”

Jade wraps her arms around Leigh-Anne, holding her tightly. She never wants to let her go.

***

There’s a frenzy of girls backstage when Jade and Leigh-Anne arrive, demanding to know where they’ve been. Jade blushes as Leigh-Anne tells them that traffic was terrible (when really Leigh-Anne had been too busy fucking Jade into the mattress to leave the apartment on time). Jade doesn’t think any of them believe Leigh-Anne though, because they all roll their eyes before pushing them into chairs for hair and makeup.

Jade jiggles her leg nervously as Jesy roughly brushes through her hair. (“Honestly Jade,” she had said when she started, “how the hell did it get like this?” Jade refused to answer.) Jade looks over to where Lauren is straightening Leigh-Anne’s hair, and Leigh-Anne gives her a shy smile.

That doesn’t really do anything to calm her nerves, though. What if they don’t like it? What if she messes up and everyone laughs at her? At least when she had done it the first time she could blame her lack of rehearsal. But this? She’s worked really hard on this dance and she doesn’t want to fuck up.

“You’re going to be great,” Jesy whispers as if she can read Jade’s thoughts. “At least you won’t be alone.”

Jade smiles to herself. Jesy’s right. If she majorly fucks up then Leigh-Anne will be right there to rectify it. If Jade gets too nervous, she’s got Leigh-Anne’s hand to squeeze. She has nothing to worry about because Leigh-Anne will be there for her the entire time.

Jesy finishes straightening Jade’s hair and putting on her makeup, and then pushes her out of the chair so that she can change. She and Leigh-Anne laugh as they put on their costumes (Leigh-Anne in black lace underwear, and Jade in white ones that are the exact same style, and then they cover them up with a simple t-shirt and jeans). Jade’s not even sure what they’re laughing at, and she’s fairly certain that Leigh-Anne doesn’t either, but it helps to relax a little.

Just before the show is about to begin, Georgia pulls Jade and Leigh-Anne aside.

“I want you to know, Jade,” she says, “that you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re an amazing dancer and I’m more than lucky to have you here tonight.”

Leigh-Anne squeezes Jade’s hand. “She’s right, babe. You’re more than qualified to be out on that stage.”

Jade laughs. “You’re acting like this is Broadway or something.”

Georgia smiles, patting Jade on the back. “Just try to have fun out there.”

Jade nods, watching her go. When she thought about strip clubs, she had always assumed that the owners were all these big burly men that swindled the strippers out of their money at every chance they got. But Georgia is one of the nicest people that Jade has ever met and she treats the strippers like they’re actually people rather than pieces of meat.

Georgia was wrong. Jade’s the lucky one to have found an amazing place like this.

Leigh-Anne sits backstage with Jade, holding her hand tightly, as the show starts. Jade’s too nervous to actually watch, and Leigh-Anne doesn’t mind sitting there with her. Georgia had decided to put them at the end because most of the men would be too drunk and tired to care if they mess up. At the time, Jade had thought that was wise. But now she realizes that it’s actually a terrible idea because now she has to sit through the entire show building up her nerves.

As the show nears the end, Leigh-Anne leans in close and whispers, “Remember what I said that first night?” Jade nods. “Don’t think about trying to please those men. They don’t deserve you. Think about me. Try to imagine that we’re all alone, in our apartment. What would you do to me?”

Jade smiles, pressing her lips against Leigh-Anne’s cheek. “Believe me. I don’t think that would be appropriate to show on stage.”

Leigh-Anne blushes, ducking her head. Jade smirks, glad that she can make Leigh-Anne shy the way Leigh-Anne does to her.

“Let’s all hear it for Twister!” they hear Georgia announce from the stage.

Leigh-Anne grabs Jade’s hand, pulling her to the side of the stage. “That’s our queue,” she mutters. She kisses Jade, murmuring, “Good luck,” to her before disappearing to wait on the other side of the stage.

“We’ve got just one performance left for tonight,” Georgia says. The audience boos and Georgia laughs. “I’m upset about it too. But, we’ve saved the best for last. And, instead of giving you just one girl, we’re giving you double the pleasure for this last performance. Please give it up for the sweet and sour, Honey and Pepper!”

The song starts up and Jade and Leigh-Anne both emerge from the sides of the stage. They walk towards each other until they meet in the middle. And when they do, they both look up at each other. And even though Jade is supposed to remain serious, she can’t help but smile when she sees Leigh-Anne.

_Tell me what you want, what you like, it’s okay…_

Leigh-Anne grabs Jade’s hands and pulls her flush against her. Placing her hands on Jade’s hips, she sways their bodies from side to side as she mouths the words. The crowd cheers as Leigh-Anne spins Jade around until her back is against Leigh-Anne’s chest.

Wrapping her arms around Jade’s stomach, Leigh-Anne moves them again. Then Jade rips Leigh-Anne’s arms away, and bends down, grinding her ass up against Leigh-Anne’s crotch. Leigh-Anne squeezes it, and the crowd goes wild as they start throwing bills up onto the stage.

_Don’t tell your mother…_

Jade stands up straight and wraps her arm around Leigh-Anne’s neck from behind. Leigh-Anne’s hand slowly slides down Jade’s stomach, toying with the waistband of her jeans. Jade sucks in a breath as Leigh-Anne’s light fingertips tickle along her stomach.

And then Leigh-Anne slips her hand down Jade’s jeans. Dollar bills fly everywhere as cheers erupt from the crowd. Jade throws her head back in ecstasy, grinding up into Leigh-Anne’s hand. Leigh-Anne dips her head down and licks along Jade’s neck as she rubs her hand along Jade’s crotch.

_Take me down into your paradise…_

Jade spins around as Leigh-Anne pushes her up against the pole. Leigh-Anne comes in close, and Jade wraps a leg around Leigh-Anne’s waist and her arms go around Leigh-Anne’s neck. Leigh-Anne rips off Jade’s shirt, running her hands all over her body as Jade tries to draw her in closer.

Then Leigh-Anne’s hands settle under Jade’s ass as she hoists her up. Jade’s other leg goes around Leigh-Anne’s waist as Leigh-Anne buries her face in Jade’s breasts. Jade laughs because Leigh-Anne’s nose is kind of tickling her, and she almost forgets what she’s supposed to do next.

Her back to the crowd, Jade leans backwards as Leigh-Anne holds onto tightly. When Jade’s hands are planted firmly on the ground, Leigh-Anne lets go of her and Jade flips over until she’s standing on her feet. As she turns back to the crowd, she’s relieved to see that everyone is hooting and hollering. She lets out the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.

_Tell me if I won, if I did, what’s my prize…_

Leigh-Anne stalks up to Jade, and then drops to her knees. Jade blushes at the crowd’s cheers for that, because it makes her think of what they do when they’re alone. Leigh-Anne mouths at the space below Jade’s bellybutton as she unbuttons her jeans. Jade leans backwards as Leigh-Anne slips her jeans down and kisses down the inside of her thigh.

Jade turns to face the audience as Leigh-Anne stands back up and behind her. Jade looks out onto the faces that are all eyeing her hungrily. As Leigh-Anne starts running her hands up and down Jade’s sides, Jade closes her eyes, imagining that it’s just the two of them alone. Imagining that the tender kisses Leigh-Anne plants along her arm is leading up to something else.

_Don’t tell your mother… Kiss one another…_

Leigh-Anne turns Jade around so that they’re facing one another. Jade keeps her eyes closed until she feels Leigh-Anne squeezing her hand. She opens her eyes and Leigh-Anne whispers, “It’s okay.”

Jade nods as Leigh-Anne guides her hands to her hips. Leigh-Anne uses Jade’s hands to push her t-shirt up slowly over her head. Jade throws it somewhere across the stage. She stares at Leigh-Anne for a second, not quite believing this is happening in front of a hundred people. This should just be for them.

But Leigh-Anne is nodding, telling her to go on. And so Jade does. She slips behind Leigh-Anne, wrapping her arms around Leigh-Anne’s stomach. She drops her hands to the button on her jeans and undoes it. She pushes them down to the floor, and Leigh-Anne kicks them away.

_Take me down into your paradise…_

Leigh-Anne grinds back into Jade roughly. She puts a hand at the back of Jade’s head and pulls her hair as she starts to whimper a little. Jade can’t help herself, she dips her head and bites at Leigh-Anne’s neck, not caring that it’s not part of the show at all.

Jade drops to her knees, now, and crawls around to the front of Leigh-Anne. She grips Leigh-Anne’s hips and kisses the flat of her stomach. Leigh-Anne pulls on Jade’s hair (Jade can’t help but wonder how mad Jesy is going to be at Leigh-Anne for messing up Jade’s hair so much) as she helplessly grinds upwards.

The crowd can’t control themselves as a tornado of bills flies around them.

_Shh… Don’t tell your mother…_

Jade drops to her back on the floor, laying down flat. Leigh-Anne drops down to the ground and crawls towards Jade’s slowly, predator-like. Jade bites her lip to keep from laughing at the way Leigh-Anne does silly faces to try and relax her.

She crawls over Jade’s pliant body, pausing to lick at Jade’s skin every once in a while to draw it out. Every time she does, Jade’s breath hitches at the way Leigh-Anne makes her feel so good even when it’s just for show.

_Take me down…_

Leigh-Anne straddles Jade and grinds down against her. The crowd goes crazy as Jade arches her back and grabs onto Leigh-Anne’s back. Jade leans up, kissing and licking at Leigh-Anne’s stomach as Leigh-Anne gyrates against her.

She pushes Leigh-Anne off of her, and Leigh-Anne rolls onto her back as Jade sits between her legs. She dips her head down between Leigh-Anne’s legs for a couple of beats and then licks up Leigh-Anne’s stomach. She loves the way Leigh-Anne sucks in her stomach at Jade’s touch.

_(Don’t be scared) ‘Cause I’m your body type…_

“Ready?” Leigh-Anne whispers.

Jade nods and Leigh-Anne wraps her legs around Jade’s waist. Jade pushes her hands underneath Leigh-Anne’s ass and then slowly stands up. She slams Leigh-Anne’s back against the pole and buries her face in her breasts. Leigh-Anne swivels her hips against Jade as she arches her back.

Jade drops Leigh-Anne and Leigh-Anne wastes no time grabbing Jade’s arms and pulling them around her. As the song draws to the close, Leigh-Anne pulls Jade against her chest and squeezes her ass.

_We’re cool for the summer._

They end with their foreheads leaning against each other and their bodies pressed up against each other. The crowd goes wild as the lights dim and the stage goes dark. Jade stays tangled around Leigh-Anne, breathing her in.

And then she kisses her. She doesn’t care that they’re still on stage. She can’t help but press her lips against Leigh-Anne’s because what they just did was fucking incredible.

“Oh my god,” Jade breathes against Leigh-Anne’s lips. “That was amazing.”

Leigh-Anne nods, laughing into the kiss. “ _You_ were amazing.”

Jade is about to argue with her, tell her that she’s the amazing one, but all that comes out is, “I love you.”

And maybe the timing wasn’t perfect, but the smile that she gets from Leigh-Anne in response is. And that’s enough for Jade.

***

_Epilogue_

“Oh god, what if they don’t like me?” Leigh-Anne mutters into her hands, tapping her foot nervously. “I’m a fucking stripper for fuck’s sake! I’m not exactly the type of girl you bring home to meet your family.”

Jade hums, rubbing Leigh-Anne’s thigh with a hand. “Don’t forget this was your idea, babe.”

“And I completely regret it,” Leigh-Anne whines. “Can we please go home now?”

Jade takes her eyes off the road for a second to pout at her. “But it’s my birthday.”

Leigh-Anne sighs and kisses her cheek. “I hate that you’re so irresistible. But you better protect me if your family is mean to me.”

Jade smiles. “Of course I will. They’re like sharks. As soon as they smell blood, they go straight in for the kill.”

Leigh-Anne glares at her as Jade giggles. “You’re not funny.”

“Love you too.”

They pull into Jade’s driveway a few minutes later. Leigh-Anne’s tapping gets faster as Jade’s mother runs out of the house and towards the car. Jade jumps out and envelops her in a hug.

“Hi Mom,” she says when they pull away from each other. “How are you?”

“I’m good,” her mother says. “I’m so happy you’re here. I missed you so much.” She peers into the car. “Is that your girlfriend?”

Jade looks into the car where Leigh-Anne has her face buried into her hands. Jade smiles at how nervous Leigh-Anne is to meet her parents. It just shows how much she cares about Jade that she wants to make a good impression.

Jade turns back to her mother. “Yeah. Don’t expect her to come out any time soon. She’s really nervous to—”

“Hello Norma, it’s nice to finally meet you.”

Jade’s eyes widen in surprise at Leigh-Anne’s calm demeanor as she shakes Jade’s mother’s hand. The way she smiles, exuding confidence, would never tell you that she had been freaking out just a moment ago.

“It’s lovely to meet you as well, Leigh-Anne,” her mother says. She leans in close to Jade and loudly whispers, “She is so gorgeous, Jade. Nice choice.”

Leigh-Anne laughs as Jade blushes. As Leigh-Anne wraps an arm around Jade’s back to escort her inside Jade wonders if she’s the one that should’ve been nervous about this week.

Jade’s entire family is gathered there. They smother Leigh-Anne in hugs as Jade laughs at her. She looks surprised every time it happens, like she’s never received a hug ever in her life. But other than that she handles the family extraordinarily well. No one cares that much that she’s a girl dating a girl and they all act very pleasantly around her.

“So Leigh-Anne,” Jade’s grandfather asks when they’re all sitting around the living room, waiting for Jade’s mother to finish cooking dinner, “what do you do?”

With her feet resting in Leigh-Anne’s lap, Jade can feel the way Leigh-Anne tenses up from the question. “Um, well,” Leigh-Anne stammers, looking to Jade for help.

Jade faces her grandfather straight on and answers, “She’s a stripper. In fact, we both are.”

Leigh-Anne looks mortified as a silence falls over the family. Jade stares at them all, daring them to make a rude comment about their profession. Jade doesn’t know what it is, if Leigh-Anne is finally rubbing off on her or what, but she has confidence like she never has before.

Finally one of Jade’s aunts breaks the silence. “So, do you get to meet a lot of hot guys?”

Leigh-Anne visibly relaxes as the family breaks out into laughter. Jade smiles at her as she snuggles in closer, burying her face in Leigh-Anne’s neck.

“Most of the guys are drunk old men,” Leigh-Anne says. “Not that I care much about meeting the guys.”

Everyone laughs as Jade’s aunt sips at her wine. “Good, more for me then,” she comments.

The rest of the night and all of Christmas is like that. Leigh-Anne fits in perfectly with Jade’s family, able to crack jokes and embarrass Jade just as easily as if she’s always been there. Jade’s family loves Leigh-Anne and Leigh-Anne loves Jade’s family. Some of them even make the comment to Jade that they can’t wait for the wedding.

Late on the night of Christmas Day, when all the family is sitting in the living room getting drunk and playing a board game, Jade sneaks away to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

As she approaches the kitchen she think she hears Leigh-Anne’s voice. And she’s pretty sure that’s her mother’s voice responding to her. Jade stops short and listens.

“—just want what’s best for her, you know?” her mother is saying.

“I understand,” Leigh-Anne answers. “I know that I’m probably not what you pictured as your daughter’s girlfriend, but I love her so much. And just because I’m a stripper doesn’t mean that I will love her any less than if I was a teacher, or a doctor—”

“That’s not what I was going to say at all, dear,” her mother is quick to say. “I mean, of course I was a little surprised when Jade mentioned that you were a stripper, and that she is too now, but I don’t mind at all. As long as you make her happy, I don’t care what you do as your profession. And I can tell that she really loves you too.”

“She means the world to me,” Leigh-Anne admits quietly.

Jade smiles to herself and finally decides to reveal herself. She slides behind Leigh-Anne and wraps her arms around her stomach. Kissing the back of her neck she says, “We should go to bed soon, babe.”

Leigh-Anne nods, turning her head so that she can meet Jade’s lips in a proper kiss. “How’s the game going?”

Jade shrugs. “I’m losing. Why do you think I’m ready to go to bed?”

Leigh-Anne laughs, stepping out of Jade’s embrace. Jade pouts until Leigh-Anne entwines their fingers together. “It was nice talking to you, Norma,” Leigh-Anne says. “I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”

Jade leads Leigh-Anne to her bedroom after Jade and her mother exchange good nights. Her bedroom is still exactly the same as it had been when she painted it over ten years ago, with bright pink walls and fairy decals. When Leigh-Anne had first seen it she had said, “Believe it or not, this is exactly how I pictured your childhood bedroom. Although, it’s going to be weird fucking you in a room that you painted when you were seven.”

Jade falls fast asleep after stripping down and falling into bed. But she’s woken a couple of hours later (although it feels like minutes) to someone peppering kisses all over her face and singing quietly.

_And I said ‘Oh my, what a marvelous tune’…_

Jade swats at Leigh-Anne so that she can get back to sleep. But her girlfriend is relentless and won’t stop singing that stupid Taylor Swift song in her ear. Jade regrets ever telling Leigh-Anne that Taylor Swift was her guilty pleasure.

“What are you doing?” Jade mumbles, pressing her face back into the pillow.

“It’s midnight,” Leigh-Anne whispers. “It’s your birthday. Happy birthday, baby.”

_And we were dancing, dancing… Like we’re made of starlight, starlight…_

“And you couldn’t wait until morning to say that?” Jade demands, finally opening her eyes and staring up at Leigh-Anne.

Leigh-Anne shakes her head, grinning. She leans down and kisses Jade. “I wanted to be the first to say it to you. Because I love you the most.”

“I know,” Jade says, tracing her fingertips down Leigh-Anne’s jaw. “I heard you tell my mom that I meant the world to you.”

Leigh-Anne ducks her head. “You heard that?” Jade nods. “Well, it’s true.”

Jade smiles, pulling her down for a kiss. It remains chaste, mostly because she’s too tired to anything more than that right now. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Leigh-Anne asks. “I’m not giving you your present until later.” She winks.

Jade giggles, burying her face in Leigh-Anne’s chest. “Just—you. Having you here is the best present anyone could ever ask for.”

Leigh-Anne kisses her again before lying back down on the bed. She wraps an arm around Jade and pulls her against her chest so that they’re spooning. “You’re welcome, babe. Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Jade says, snuggling back into Leigh-Anne. “Now go the fuck back to sleep.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! 
> 
> Come scream about leighade with me on [tumblr](http://dauntless-sansa.tumblr.com/)


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